Anfernee 'Penny' Hardaway was a fixture in the golden era of the 90's NBA: a regular All-Star, a face of Nike, and the best pick to follow in Michael Jordan's footsteps. But how much our fandom was about basketball, and how much was just the product of exceptionally good marketing? This week on Posters, we explore Penny's short reign at the top of the league and how another golden era— of NBA marketing, commercials, and merchandising— led a whole generation to buy into the league.

The episode has a ton of gems:

• Old commercials, from Lil Penny to Kareem singing about a candy bar

• the movie Blue Chips

• the story of Penny's grandmother, Louise

• the one known NBA player to collect pigeons

Check out the visuals for the ep and clips on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@PostersBball

We're also on IG: https://www.instagram.com/postersbball/

And on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@postersbball

Posters is a fan’s history of professional basketball, exploring a new player's career, societal impact, and our relationship to the game as fans. (If you follow House of Highlights AND watch every "30 for 30," this show is for you.)

Host/Writer/Producer: James Hamilton

Executive Producer/Editor/Co-writer: Eric Parrie

Theme Song: Jon Lampley

Fan Correspondents: Courtney Fearrington and Charlie Vergos