PENNY AND PERRY

By Jeramie McPeek

 

When a fan asked Anfernee "Penny" Hardaway who his best friend in the NBA was during a question and answer session on NBA.com, the league's internet sight, the Orlando Magic guard was quick to reply "First, Elliot Perry of Phoenix, who's from my hometown.

"On the court and off the court, he's the same person: quiet," he said. "He never says much, but he's one of the nicest guys you'd ever want to meet."

It was during the mid-80's in Memphis, TN that Penny and Perry first became friends. A basketball phenom at Treadwell High School, Elliot was a local hero to many kids including the younger Anfernee.

"Everyone wanted to be Elliot Perry," Hardaway recalled. "Everyone looked up to him, he was great. I idolized him."

Perry's lightning-quick moves and thunderous scoring strikes made him a highly recruited senior, which he thinks is one reason Hardaway admired him so.

"It was just a situation where I had all these college teams coming in there every week which was a glamorous life to a freshman," he explained. "He's seeing Dean Smith and Larry Brown come in; all these guys that he'd seen on TV and he idolized that."

Perry also became like a second coach to his frosh teammate, guiding him in the ways of high school hoops.

"I was a young player and he just tried to take me under his wing and tell me the things that he did to be successful and it helped," Hardaway said.

Little Penny didn't need to learn how to shoot the jumper or dish the rock though; he already had those skills.

"It wasn't so much teaching him about basketball," Perry explained. "He had such exceptional talent as a freshman. Even at a young age you could tell he saw things before other people saw them. I just taught him different situations and about work ethic."

Hardaway followed Perry's footsteps to Memphis State where his work ethic and athletic ability made him the third pick in the 1993 NBA Draft. Now days, the Nike superstar is leading the point for the Magic while Perry plays playmaker for the Suns. And although they now play on different teams in different conferences on different sides of the country, the old friends still keep in touch.

"We talk often," Perry said. "Especially in the summertime. We play everyday in the summer. I think we really respect eachother. If he called me tonight and said he need something, I'd do everything I could to try to do it and I'm sure it's the same way with him."