Quotes from Penny Hardaway

Someone takes the challenge with me, I'm going to take it right back.

I think what makes a really good shoe is something that you can play ball in but also something that you can wear off the court as well.

I wore No. 25 in college, so naturally when I arrived in Orlando, I wanted that number, but Nick Anderson had it. I decided to go with No. 1 because of my name, Penny.

My favorite sneaker is the Penny 1. The Penny 1 is an original, man, and I loved them from the beginning, and other people loved them, too. It was a comfortable shoe, and the Penny 1 was definitely my favorite to play in. The Penny II was a close second, though.

People who weren't watching basketball were still fans of Lil Penny.

I can pass on a lot of information. I'm just never going to be the 21-year-old Penny Hardaway again.

I lived the dream. God blessed me to live the dream.

Mentally I was retired, and physically I was retired. I was playing recreational ball. But when the decision happened with Chris Bosh and LeBron, I felt like I could really be good in that system.

As an athlete, the body can fail you. I know. The mind and your education will be there to keep carrying you.

My microfracture was handled like a routine arthroscopic surgery. They thought it was a 6-to-8 week deal. Now we know, from Amare Stoudemire to Kenyon Martin, that it's a longer deal.

I want to see the Memphis flags waving on the cars. I want to see the T-shirts going again, the hats going again like the old school days, and that's what we want to take it back to.

I feel like I can play point guard for any team in the league and average a double-double.

I feel like I've paid attention to all the great coaches who have coached me.

There's going to be situations that you get into that you're going to need help, for sure. But for the most part, I think coaching is just understanding who you have and your team, understanding yourself, and understanding the situation.

I think it's a huge compliment from the younger guys understanding what I did for the game and wanting to represent me by wearing my shoes.

If I had stayed there, swallowed my pride, been able to save Orlando all over again, which is what they were trying to get me to do there, I'd be O.K. now.

A lot of the kids gave a lot of positive feedback about if I ever became a coach, they would love to play in our program. And I was very confident that we would be able to get the top-tier players to come in.

I was blessed to get the contracts I had.

When you still have something in the tank, it's really hard to let it go.

For sure, I definitely feel like there's a target on my back.

I felt pain every night. After games, it took me a long time to walk to my car, and the driving home, it took me a couple of minutes even to get out of my car and extend my legs and just walk.

Kobe has a different temperament than me. We're both competitive, but he was much more outspoken. I would let anything roll off me. Nothing bothered me. I never complained.

I'm so thankful and blessed for the Heat organization.

I'm getting used to this as a coach because it's a little jealousy from a lot of these coaches around the country. I do understand that, because we are NBA players trying to come back, and we didn't have any experience as college coaches. So we didn't, quote, unquote, 'Pay our dues.'