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But less than a month after his grandmother's death, Hardaway confirmed what he always suspected -- giving his time is more important than writing a check. First, he volunteered to coach a group of Lester Middle School seventh- and eighth-graders whose coach was battling cancer. The team not only won the state championship with a 27-3 record, but Hardaway's emphasis on academics and discipline resulted in the team grade point average improving from 2.5 to almost 3.0. Then, he became point man for Penny's Fastbreak Courts. It's his youth sports training program that's part of the Gameday Healthy Kids Foundation, which teaches athletics and life skills to underprivileged children. Hardaway is an investor and fundraiser for a proposed $20 million Fastbreak Courts facility in Cordova. A hoops Taj Mahal, the facility will have seven basketball courts, a 2,000-seat arena, a sports rehab clinic operated by Campbell Clinic, an auditorium and classrooms for tutoring children. Memphis Commercial Appeal

Penny Hardaway 

"Penny has his life in perspective now," said Randy Wade, deputy director for U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen and one of Hardaway's closest friends and confidants for more than 20 years. "He knows what he wants to do and he's getting it done." Politicians and public officials such as Shelby County Commissioner Henri Brooks are taking notice. "I wish we could clone people like Mr. Hardaway, who came back to the community that gave him a start so that he could give socially and economically disadvantaged kids the same start he enjoyed," Brooks said. "I would encourage a public/private partnership of his Cordova venture. I think the city and the county should step up to the plate and work with Mr. Hardaway providing the resources to make this a reality." Memphis Commercial Appeal

Penny Hardaway 

Penny Hardaway On the enduring popularity of his Nike shoe, Air Penny, which was re-issued two years ago and is now Nike's most popular basketball shoe, outselling Air Jordan: "A good basketball shoe to me is something you can wear on and off the court. Guys like to wear jeans, T-shirts and sneakers, and you can't do that with a lot of basketball shoes. Some shoes are made just for the court. My shoes and Michael's (Jordan) shoes can be worn on and off the court. The Penny V is dropping next year." Memphis Commercial Appeal

Sneakers, Penny Hardaway 

Hardaway has had the sneaker world literally abuzz this week with his just-released Nike Foamposite Galaxy shoes. The $220 space-themed kicks have caused national pandemonium, even physical skirmishes, among sneaker aficionados hoping to snag one of the very few pairs available. The Washington Post reports, that more than 100 deputies in riot gear had to subdue an unruly crowd in Orlando, Florida while at a mall in Hyattsville, Maryland, one person was arrested for disorderly conduct, all around the sneaker’s Friday (February 24) release. Footwear giant Foot Locker even cancelled sales of the shoes at several locations out of concerns for public safety. “The Foamposite is really a very nice shoe,” Hardaway muses, admitting that he had no idea it would be such a hot ticket item when creating the Galaxy design. “You can never imagine or try to predict that there would be this much pandemonium over your tennis shoe. You would hope so, that it would be crazy—not to the point of violence—but everybody wanting them, that’s a dream come true.” Mtv.com

Sneakers, Penny Hardaway 

Bids on eBay are currently as astronomical as $50,000 and one sneakerhead in Queens, reportedly put up his 1996 Chevy Cavalier up on Craigslist in hopes of bartering. Hardaway showed off his own pair in Friday’s NBA All-Star Celebrity Game, alongside celebrity players like J. Cole and Common, but then whipped out the even more exclusive Nike Foamposite Shooting Stars during the second half of the game. Literally 1-of-1, the Orlando Magic-themed kicks may just be the most exclusive sneakers in the world right now, but Hardaway’s not sure if he’s ready to part with his size 14s just yet, and for what price. “They’re just in my possession and I’m enjoying them,” he laughs. “For my pair? I don’t know. It’s something to think about, you know. If I did auction them off or whatever, the money would go to charity, it wouldn’t come to me. I don’t know if I’m going to auction them off yet. I have to talk to my guy, but I would hope that if they were going to be auctioned off for charity, they would go for a lot of money.” Mtv.com

Sneakers, Penny Hardaway 

Could a pair of Pennys be worth $70,000? Today, an eBay auction for the “Galaxy” Foamposites in a size 10 has hit the outrageous amount just hours after the release. Oddly enough, there are numerous ‘Buy It Now’ auctions for the “Galaxy” Foamposites listed for a fraction of the price. How much is too much for this shoe? You tell us in the comment section. NiceKicks.com

Sneakers, Penny Hardaway 

Here are Penny’s thoughts on the present state of grassroots basketball, what he may change, and his upcoming splash on the AAU circuit: SLAM: Penny, you’ve got an amazing event going on right here. Tell me how all of this came about. Penny Hardaway: First of all, I’d like to give all thanks to Travis Haddock from Haddock Sports. He’s the guy who puts these tournaments together. He’s the one who came to me with the idea and the concept of having my name involved, and instantly I was interested. He mentioned Oak Hill, Simeon, Montverde, Our Savior, and plenty of others. All of those teams with all of the talent that we have in this city…the potential was unbelievable. I was excited for the city to have this much talent under one roof. SLAM

Penny Hardaway 

When Dwight Howard thinks of the 1990s Orlando Magic, he doesn’t think of Shaquille O’Neal, the dominant big man who Howard is so often compared to. No, Howard says he associates those Magic teams with Penny Hardaway, who made four all-star teams with the Magic and Howard thinks so highly of Hardaway, in fact, that he thinks the organization should put Hardaway’s No. 1 jersey in the Amway Center rafters as its first retired number. “I think when the season starts – whenever that may be – he should have his jersey put up for what he did not just the team, but for the city,” Howard said. “We all know how great Penny has been for the game of basketball.” Orlando Sentinel

Orlando Magic, Dwight Howard, Penny Hardaway 

Former NBA star Anfernee "Penny" Hardaway will announce today that he plans to play a role in a $20 million project that will impact "the future of youth sports in Memphis." Hardaway has scheduled a 4:30 p.m. press conference at Gameday Sports Park in Cordova for the announcement. Memphis Commercial Appeal

Memphis Grizzlies, Penny Hardaway 

Dwight Howard apparently encountered little difficulty convincing current and former Orlando Magic players to participate in his charity exhibition game Nov. 13 at UCF Arena. Kevin Samples, Howard's manager, said that barring unforeseen conflicts, 18 people have committed to play, including former Magic players Vince Carter, Penny Hardaway and Steve Francis. Orlando Sentinel

Orlando Magic, Vince Carter, Dwight Howard, Lockout, Penny Hardaway, Steve Francis 

Rudy Gay has played in some of the charity games his fellow NBA players have arranged during the lockout. Now the Memphis Grizzlies forward has decided to hold his own game. Gay announced on Twitter that he has organized an exhibition for Nov. 8. The game will be played at the DeSoto Civic Center in Southaven, Miss., just outside of Memphis, and proceeds will benefit Flight 22 Foundation, Gay’s nonprofit group raising money for childhood education in Memphis and his hometown of Baltimore. Among those committed are Kevin Durant, John Wall, Grizzlies teammates Zach Randolph and O.J. Mayo. Former NBA player Penny Hardaway also will play. Gay is expected to announce other players in the coming days. The Tennessean

Memphis Grizzlies, Rudy Gay, Kevin Durant, Zach Randolph, John Wall, Lockout, Penny Hardaway 

Q: Everybody here obviously is curious to know what’s going to happen with Dwight Howard. Do you know him or have any contact with him at all? Penny Hardaway: I don’t know him, but he came on my radio show last Tuesday and I really didn’t ask him any tough questions, but I think he’s gonna stay here. Well, I hope he does. Q: What was the veteran leadership like when you were in the NBA as far as them giving you perspective on fighting the bigger fights for players in the league? A: I think the veteran guys back then were very strong, they were good leaders, they definitely gave us the pros and cons of every decision that we were gonna make. And the only thing that we did wrong was, that I felt, is that we priced the veterans out of the league. With the minimum being a million dollars and when the economy went bad, a million dollars was a lot of money to a lot of teams and they didn’t want any veterans anymore because of that reason so hopefully they’ll give a better deals for the veterans so the veterans can stay in as long as they want. Orlando Sentinel

Orlando Magic, Dwight Howard, Penny Hardaway 

Q: What’s been your take on the NBA lockout as you’ve watched the events transpire and do you think it will last for a while? Penny Hardaway: My view is just the owners are probably a little upset about what happened last year with the LeBron [James] situation and it was kind of like an eyesore for the league because of how it happened with the decision, LeBron and Chris Bosh going to Miami. But I think it’s gonna last a while because they’re gonna want to get some things straight where players can’t leave a franchise without anything. So I think it’s gonna be a while. Orlando Sentinel

CBA, David Stern, Lockout, Billy Hunter, Penny Hardaway, NBPA 

Q: Do you think there will be an All-Star game here in Orlando next year? A: I hope so, I really want to see it back here. That would be unfortunate if the lockout went all the way through the All-Star weekend and didn’t come through here. Q: What’s your take on all these guys talking about going overseas? Is that a good look? A: It’s definitely not a good look. It’s not a good look because it means you’re not caring about what’s going on over here, you’re just gonna go and make money. But hey, that’s the way it works. Every guy has a right to do whatever they want to do and would just say good luck to those guys who are gonna go do that. Orlando Sentinel

Orlando Magic, CBA, David Stern, Lockout, Billy Hunter, Penny Hardaway, NBPA 

Orlando Magic president Alex Martins: We've had great players in our franchise, like Shaquille O'Neal, Tracy McGrady, Nick Anderson, Penny Hardaway, but I have no doubt when I say Dwight Howard is the most important player in the Orlando Magic history. Dwight is the best among a lot of great players we've had. Solobasket

Orlando Magic, Shaquille O'Neal, Dwight Howard, Tracy McGrady, Penny Hardaway, Alex Martins 

Anyone that watched the NBA in the 1990′s knows who Penny Hardaway is. He was part of the 1996 Gold medal Olympic team and had a very successful career with a few different teams. I think I even had his shoes growing up! Well he was also a Ford Mustang fan and sunk over $30,000 into this 1965 Ford Mustang. Current bid has it just under the amount of money he has put into the car and it shows an offer has already been made on the car. Check out the auction for more images. mustangevolution.com

Penny Hardaway 

Chris Miller: Gilbert Arenas plans to wear #1 as a member of the Magic to pay tribute to his favorite player Penny Hardaway. Twitter

Orlando Magic, Gilbert Arenas, Penny Hardaway 

"I grew up a Magic fan. Penny Hardaway was my favorite player,'' he said. "I've spent my summers here. I'm ecstatic about this.'' FanHouse.com

Orlando Magic, Gilbert Arenas, Penny Hardaway 

Arenas was dropped from his long-time shoe company, adidas, immediately after he pleaded guilty to felony gun possession last January. He has been wearing Nikes during practice, including a pair of Penny Hardaway "Half-Penny" shoes for media day, but a Nike spokesman said on Tuesday that he has not signed a new deal with the company. Washington Post

Washington Wizards, Gilbert Arenas, Penny Hardaway 

There's a reason nearly everyone who spoke at Lorenzen Wright's memorial service Wednesday afternoon at FedExForum referred to his infectious smile. According to longtime friend Penny Hardaway, that's what Wright was all about. As those who knew Wright reminisced about his life, their fondest memories often brought a smile or a chuckle -- just the way Wright would have wanted it. "Lorenzen was always a practical joker," Hardaway said. "He always wanted the last laugh on people. In the gym, he was the life of the party, the loudest, always in a good manner. He always made people laugh and smile." Memphis Commercial Appeal

Penny Hardaway, Lorenzen Wright