Penny Hardaway admits regret over war of words with Rick Barnes in 2019

If Penny Hardaway has one regret, it’s that he responded to Rick Barnes and made a bad situation worse back in 2018. That’s what the Memphis head coach told Jason Munz of the Commercial Appeal. 

“At the time, people overplayed it,” Hardaway said during his exclusive interview with Munz and The Commercial Appeal. “(But) that’s the only thing I feel like I should not have done.”

Tennessee basketball beat Memphis 102-92 in a heated game in front of a sold-out crowd at FedEx Forum in Memphis in December 2019. At one point, players from the two teams had to be separated and technicals were issued. 

After the game, Hardaway accused the Vols and point guard Jordan Bone specifically for inciting the altercation in front of the Memphis bench. 

Hardaway said Tennessee players had their “fists balled” and said “it was almost like a standoff”. The technicals were issued, one to Bone and two to Memphis players Alex Lomax and Jeremiah Martin, in the final minute of the game. 

“I said (to the official) that the entire Tennessee team ran over to fight,” Hardaway said during his postgame press conference in 2019. “You know, their entire team emptied the bench to run over. They weren’t coming over because it was a timeout. You could visibly see guys with their fists balled, talking trash to our guys or whatever.”

‘It definitely got blown out of proportion and rubbed a lot of people the wrong way’

Two days later, on Vol Calls on The Vol Network, the weekly radio show for Tennessee coaches, Barnes joked with Bob Kesling about the balled fist comments and accused Memphis players of flopping.

“It was a very difficult game to call,” Barnes said at the time, “when guys are trying to pick up fouls and every time there’s contact jumping back and this and that.”

Hardaway went even further in his next press conference, reacting to the comments from Barnes. 

“I don’t know who Rick Barnes thinks I am,” Hardaway said, “but I’m not a dude that likes to mess around about anything. I just call it like I see it … I think it’s kind of low class how he’s trying to downgrade my guys for flopping and all that.”

After the press conference ended, as Hardaway was leaving the room, he said “Rick Barnes, get the (expletive) out of here.”

Memphis won the rematch in Knoxville 51-47 at Thompson-Boling Arena in December 2020. The two teams were scheduled to play a neutral-site game at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville in December 2021, but the game was cancelled roughly an hour before tipoff because of a COVID outbreak within the Memphis program, leaving the Tigers without enough healthy players to compete.

Tennessee, Memphis have no future games scheduled

The two rivals have not scheduled any future games since then and there have been no talks to revive the series.

Looking back in the interview with Munz, Hardaway said he shouldn’t have kept the war of words going in 2019.

“I shouldn’t have even responded to that,” Hardaway said. “I was taking up for my guys, but it got definitely blown out of proportion and rubbed a lot of people the wrong way.”

Hardaway did say during the interview that he and Barnes speak when they see each other on the road and have “cordial conversation.”

“I don’t know how he feels behind closed doors,” Hardaway said, “but I would love to get the rivalry back. The last game we played was a great game, and that was after what I had said at home. It’s just unfortunate we didn’t get that last game in Nashville.”