LeBron James says Penny Hardaway and Grant Hill shaped his game more than Jordan

LeBron James grew up loving Michael Jordan, but he says Jordan was never the blueprint. On the Mind the Game podcast with Steve Nash, the 41-year-old 76ers forward said Anfernee “Penny” Hardaway and Grant Hill were the players who actually shaped how he plays, because their style matched exactly what his youth coaches were teaching him.

“MJ inspired me to play the sport, but Penny Hardaway and Grant Hill were the ones that actually shaped my game.”

– LeBron on the 2 players that shaped his game growing up

(Via @mindthegamepod ) pic.twitter.com/A0WjyWebug

— bballunlocked (@bballunlocked) October 13, 2026

What LeBron said

“When I first started playing basketball, even though I loved Michael Jordan, I never thought I could be Michael Jordan,” James told Nash. “So I resonated with Penny more. Penny and Grant Hill helped shape my game.”

He tied that influence to how he was coached as a kid: “Those two guys really helped shape my game, because I would watch them, and the way I was being taught the game by my little league coaches was exactly how Penny and Grant Hill was playing.” Then he drew the line plainly: “MJ inspired me to play the sport, but Penny and Grant Hill were the ones who actually shaped my game.”

Why Penny and Hill fit

James said the mid-1990s version of the NBA he first watched was built around two names, Jordan and Hardaway. Hardaway was a 6-foot-7 point guard in Orlando who handled, passed behind his back and ran an offense with a wing’s size. Hill, the No. 3 pick in the 1994 draft, was a point forward in Detroit who pushed the ball, attacked downhill and set up teammates. That big, ball-dominant playmaker mold is the one James grew into: a forward with a point guard’s vision who has spent more than two decades running offenses from the wing.

The timing

The comments come as James prepares for his first regular season with Philadelphia, the fourth franchise of his career. He played 18 minutes in his preseason debut with the 76ers against Brooklyn on Oct. 8, finishing with 10 points and a team-high five assists while acting as the lineup’s primary facilitator. The 76ers open the regular season at the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden on Oct. 20, the start of James’s 24th NBA season.

Sources cited by name: Mind the Game podcast (LeBron James and Steve Nash); Bleacher Report; ESPN; bballunlocked on X.

WhyNBA Sports Desk

The WhyNBA Sports Desk writes basketball explainers and dated news briefs. Official references stay with each guide.