"Someone that can really make everyone else better" - Penny defines what a point forward is

While his prime may have been short-lived, Penny Hardaway 's impact on the NBA is hard to miss. As a 6'7" point guard, Hardaway was one of the first players to operate out of the unofficial point forward role in the Association.

Penny's ability to play like a point guard, despite having the size of a forward, helped change how offenses were run in the NBA. The position has certainly evolved over the years, but if you ask Hardaway, its core principles remain the same as they were 30 years ago.

Penny's definition of a point forward

The Memphis product burst onto the scene in the 1990s with the Orlando Magic, as he was an All-Star in four of his first five seasons and earned three All-NBA honors during that stretch. Hardaway was an elite scorer but also a gifted passer who could initiate offense.

The general consensus of what a point forward is nowadays is simply a forward who can bring the ball up and initiate the offense. But in Penny's eyes, there's a lot more to the role than many fans are privy to, leading him to provide a more in-depth definition of what the position entails.

"It's more than just handling the ball and bringing the ball up the court," Hardaway said on the Point Forward podcast. "I see a lot of guys bringing the ball up the court, but to understand the game, to get people involved, make people better, understand the flow of the game, and really control the game, I think to me is a point guard, point forward. Someone that can really make everyone else better, not just bring the ball up the court to initiate offense."

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Point forwards are all over the NBA nowadays

Not every forward who can bring the ball up the court is a point forward. For example, Paul George can technically initiate offense, but racking up just 3.5 assists per game like he did last season for the Los Angeles Clippers doesn't really allow him to fit the bill.

A more accurate example could be Jayson Tatum, who took massive strides as a playmaker during the 2024 NBA Playoffs to help lead the Boston Celtics to a championship. When his shot wasn't falling, JT made an effort to get his teammates involved so that they could win games.

In a sense, the role has expanded past what Hardaway could reasonably expect it to become back in the 1990s. We frequently see star centers like Nikola Jokic or Joel Embiid initiating offense for their respective teams as point centers of sorts.

Penny wasn't the only point forward to take the league by storm in the 1990s, but he helped usher in a new wave of positionless basketball, where players are expected to do pretty much everything at a high level. And in a sense, that's precisely what it means to be a point forward.

Related: Penny Hardaway admits he was jealous of what Shaq achieved with Kobe: “I felt like that should have been me and Shaq, it just didn't happen”