NBA Q&A: Penny Hardaway

Courtesy of Shannon J. Owens 

What message do you hope folks reading the book will get?

"First of all, they gave Desmond 24 hours to live when he first got diagnosed at the hospital and he’s still living. The first thing is to just have faith that God can make anything possible. That’s the first thing I want people to understand. The second thing is, no matter who you are and where you are in life is, God can always send a blessing and I’ve been a blessing to that neighborhood and to that school to inspire those kids to want to do more, be better people, be better students, to be better basketball players and do something positive in life."

Did you always plan to coach or did this catch you by surprise?

"It caught me by surprise. I was really enjoying playing golf, traveling and going to some places that I hadn’t had an opportunity to go to for years. This came up abruptly."

What has coaching taught you?

"I think it’s added patience. I’m a very impatient person. You have to be patient when you’re dealing with kids."

Speaking of coaching, what's your take on the Rutgers coaching controversy that resulted in the firing of a coach [Mike Rice] for abusing his players now that you're coaching?

"I thought it was crazy because you don't have to go to that extreme when dealing with kids. I've yelled at kids before. I've grabbed a kid before, not in a bad way, but told him to look at me in my eyes because you want them to feel you and understand what you're saying. But throwing balls at kids, trying to really hurt them, smacking them, is definitely uncalled for because I wouldn't want anybody to do my kid like that. I thought that was terrible."

I have to ask some NBA related questions since I have you on the line. More and more kids are coming out after two years of college ball. Do you think, generally speaking, athletes are ready for the NBA after two college seasons?

"I think after two years, guys are ready to come in. They’ve learned enough about eating habits, the speed of the game, the strength you have to have moving forward. I think they’re aware of what they need to do moving forward. Two years is enough time."

You have experience understanding what it means to come back from an injury to play in your career. What's your take on the Derrick Rose debate? Should he come back or continue to sit?

"My thing is, you’re damned if you do and damned if you don’t. It’s just one of those situations because I remember when I was in Phoenix, I played with a torn meniscus.  Tim Duncan sat out [with the Spurs with an injury] and didn’t play and he didn’t get criticized for not playing and I didn’t get praise for playing. So it’s just one of those situations. And now he’s still playing and I’m out because of my knee injury. You have to be smart about it. If [Derrick Rose] is not physically ready…even if he’s not mentally ready, he shouldn’t go out there. They’re not going to go out there and beat the Heat. If I was Chicago, I would come out and say we don’t want him to come back, we want him to be OK. And let the fans be mad at them and not him."