A Magic Moment for MVP O’Neal

Penny Hardaway’s eyes lit up when he heard that the news was official.

Scott Skiles wondered aloud what the big deal was and took it as a matter of course..

The Phoenix Sun shooting guard and coach, who both played with Shaquille O’Neal in Orlando, were reacting to the Laker center winning his first NBA most-valuable-player award in a vote that, while one shy of being unanimous, garnered the highest percentage of first-place votes in league history, 99.2%.

“He’s very worthy of it,” Hardaway said Tuesday after the Suns’ practice at America West Arena. “He’s played an awesome season and he’s only getting better. And that’s the scary thing about it.”

Skiles was about to board the team bus to Sky Harbor International Airport for the flight to Los Angeles for Game 2 of the Western Conference semifinals against the Lakers when he heard that O’Neal had won.

“He should get it,” said Skiles, a point guard in Orlando from 1989-94. “He is the MVP. He had a great year and they had the most wins. He proved that he is almost unstoppable and he’s plainly the MVP.”

While Hardaway was happy for O’Neal, the news was bittersweet.

O’Neal and Hardaway were the foundation of what was supposed to be the NBA’s first dynasty after Michael Jordan retired--the first time.

In 1995, when the two were only 23, they beat Jordan’s Chicago Bulls on their way to the NBA finals, where they were swept by the defending champion Houston Rockets.

Both players heard the whispers that they couldn’t get along, that they each needed to be Orlando’s marquee player, that jealousy of each other played a role in the Magic’s demise.

“We were just two different guys, that’s all it was,” Hardaway said. “I never had any beef with Shaq and I’m sure he never had any with me. I think a lot of people made something out of it that wasn’t there.”

When asked if the somewhat strained relationship was akin to what O’Neal and Kobe Bryant have gone through, Hardaway said: “He and Kobe, they had more verbal problems than he and I ever had. They made it public a couple of times that he felt Kobe was doing too much or, you know, Kobe was just young and Shaq just wanted him to settle down a little bit, and that’s what happened.”

Penny and Shaq were supposed to be the next Magic and Kareem. But they spent only three seasons together--1993-96--and never lived up to the hype or self-imposed expectations.

“It kind of makes me sad because we should have had a ring,” Hardaway said. “When we got swept, we should have had a ring then. And if we would have won a championship, would he have left?”

Hardaway doesn’t think so.

And if O’Neal hadn’t gone to the West Coast, would Hardaway have pushed for last summer’s trade to Phoenix, which further tarnished his reputation?

“No. I never would have even thought about it,” he said. “I never would have thought about leaving.”

But now his thoughts are on finding a way to beat his former teammate, the league MVP and favorite to finally win an NBA title.

“I’m happy to see what he’s doing, I really am,” Hardaway said. “I look at him as a friend, no matter what he thinks about me or wherever our friendship is right now. . . . I’m proud of everything he’s accomplished because he’s come a long ways. He’s always been a great talent but he’s added so many great things to his game.”