Penny still scarred by surgery

Penny Hardaway went under the knife in the summer of 2000 believing his doctor was repairing a simple meniscus tear. He woke up to learn he had undergone microfracture surgery, the dreaded procedure that has effectively ended a handful of NBA careers and significantly altered several others. But unlike Greg Oden or Amare Stoudemire or Jason Kidd, or any of the others who knowingly underwent the career-changing procedure, Hardaway was caught by surprise. And the scare hasn't left him the same since. Seven years later, Hardaway's attempt at a full recovery finds him in Miami, with an old teammate, an old-school coach and an overwhelming assumption from outsiders that an old injury has long since sealed his fate. But this actually isn't a desperate last stop for a once-great player who can't let go. It's a continuation of a career that was unexpectedly stalled for far too long.