Penny Hardaway shares her reaction to Michael Jordan wearing his trainers in 1995 on #NBAHooperVision

We are in 1995. Third game of the semifinals of the Eastern Conference.

New Orlando Magic, led by Shaquille O’Neal and Penny Hardaway, visited the Chicago Bulls with the series tied at one game apiece. That’s when a historic event happened, a once-in-a-lifetime event, a scenario many would never have foreseen or predicted.

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The great Michael Jordan, for the first and only time in his NBA career, wore a Player Exclusive shoe that wasn’t his in a game – the NIKE Air Flight Ones from Hardaway.

“For him to wear my shoes, I tripped,” Hardaway explained with hosts Jamal Crawford and Quentin Richardson on #NBAHooperVision.

The Nike Air Flight One was a sneaker worn by the 6-foot-8 point guard in his first two seasons in the league before moving on to the Nike Air Penny signature line.

According to reports, Jordan was fined $ 5,000 by the NBA for wearing the white colourway of his Concord 11s because he violated league uniform guidelines.

Having no black colourway of the 11 ready for Game 3, the Bulls legend borrowed a pair from the Hardaway collection. Given his competitive fire, he removed the personalized “1 Cent” from the heel of each shoe, which wouldn’t surprise anyone.

In these sneakers, Jordan exploded for a record 40 points despite the Magic coming away with the 110-101 victory.

When he entered the league, Hardaway was billed as the next best superstar but things didn’t turn out as injuries derailed his career and yet he was an inspiration to many like Tracy McGrady and Crawford him. -same.

He wasn’t the league’s first great playmaker, but he was certainly one of the greatest shooters who had taken NBA soil.

On NBAHooperVision, paying homage to those who came before him, he also shared his inspirations.

NBAHooperVision is a new stream available on NBA League Pass hosted by Crawford and Richardson. As well as providing their own commentary and analysis, they also welcome former game greats as guests.