Whew, man. It has been a rough season in Memphis. The team is just 9-8 and 3-4 in conference play after coming in with some of the highest expectations in the country.
Their latest bungle was on Thursday in a loss against SMU in a 70-62 loss. Several Tigers were missing from the lineup and SMU is a good, veteran team.
But that didn’t stop a reporter from asking Hardaway whether he thought he could get the job done at Memphis, which, of course, he thinks he can. Their season is a disappointment, sure. But the moment Hardaway admits he can’t get the job done he’s fired.
Which is exactly why he dished out this raw, expletive-laden rant in response to that question.
On Friday, though, after cooler heads prevailed, Hardaway issued an apology to students and fans for his colorful language and overall behavior with the rant. He said he let emotions get the best of him.
Penny Hardaway issues an apology to the players and fans on Instagram. pic.twitter.com/0wSaNXgozy
— Drew Hill (@DrewHill_DM) January 22, 2022
“I bleed blue and I’m fighting always for my school, for my city and for my players. We know there is adversity right now but it’s not going to stop us from working hard. We are going to make you guys proud, we’re going to win and we are going to get through this together.”
It’s good that Hardaway apologized. Of course, you can understand him being irritated and disappointed by Memphis’ season so far. But he didn’t need to react that way. It doesn’t help his team at all.
Now that he’s apologized, Memphis can put this all behind them and try to move on with their season.
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