Hardaway's popularity reached its peak in the summer of 1996 as he was coming off two consecutive All-NBA first team selections and a selection to the USA Olympic Team. In addition he had the most popular basketball shoe on the market complete with the "Lil Penny" commercial campaign voiced by Chris Rock. On a 1996 telecast of NBA on NBC Michael Jordan said that Hardaway was the player he felt comfortable passing the torch of greatness down to. Many NBA players such as LeBron James, Gilbert ...