Shaquille O'Neal was a superstar for the Orlando Magic in the 1990s. He was a dominant player who could overpower anyone who tried to defend him. Shaq was an undisputed superstar for how he carried the Magic in the four seasons he played there.
O'Neal also played with a promising guard named Anfernee "Penny" Hardaway . They formed a talented tandem who could keep up with any other dynamic duo around the league. Unfortunately, it came to an early end after only three seasons as Shaq left in the 1996 offseason to sign with the Los Angeles Lakers.
"So I now I'm looking back why did we break up? Egos. Other people talking. That was the only time I broke the professional jealousy thing because Penny was on my a**," Shaq said on The Big Podcast. "I'm gonna make a confession, when they said it's not my team anymore, it hurt a little bit. They said it wasn't my team, it was his team, let's see what the other teams would offer me. The other teams offered me more than what my team was willing to offer, and I took advantage of it."
Shaq still thinks of how much he and Penny could have won
Shaq and Penny played three seasons together and were a fantastic one-two punch. Penny was a tall and athletic guard who worked well as Shaq's playmaker. Due to their size, they were an overpowering duo, which led to their thriving in the three years they played together.
Their most successful campaign was the 1994/95 season, when the Magic secured the first seed in the East and made it to the NBA Finals. Along the way, they even beat Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls , becoming the only team besides the 1990 Detroit Pistons to beat a Jordan-led Bulls team in the Playoffs.
The Magic's 1995 run was promising, but they could not build on it during the 1995/96 campaign. Shaq left after Orlando did not make a compelling offer for him to return to the team. That marked the abrupt end of the Shaq and Penny era, which broke fans' hearts because they saw the bright potential.
Shaq ended up succeeding as part of other duos
When Shaq moved away to Los Angeles, he formed a successful partnership with Kobe Bryant . The youngster from Lower Merion became Shaq's best partner because they complemented each other as top-tier scorers. They won three consecutive titles together from 2000 to 2002, as Shaq won all the Finals MVPs and one regular season MVP.
Unfortunately, Shaq and Kobe fell apart as their personalities clashed. Shaq's mindset about his relationship with Penny is that they would have been more successful since they never argued like he and Kobe. The basketball world won't know what could have happened because they went their separate ways. Shaq regrets leaving Penny because he appreciates his talent.
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”
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