There was probably more of a buzz Wednesday night around town about the Tonya Harding-Paula Jones schlockfest on Fox than for Penny Hardaway's return to where he and the Orlando Magic reached the NBA Finals in 1995.

In previous years, this may have cemented Orlando's reputation as a city that really needs to get off the couch more often. But the thousands of empty seats in an arena where the Magic once recorded 247 consecutive sellouts provided living proof that Hardaway is officially a dead issue.

Of course, it helps that his career has taken a turn for the worse with the Phoenix Suns. He is little more now than the answer to the trivia question of who wore No. 1 in Orlando before Tracy McGrady.

Hardaway tends to resemble the player who went 3-of-17 at Philadelphia in his final game in a Magic uniform, not the one who lit up the Miami Heat for more than 40 points in back-to-back playoff games in 1997. And almost three years after he was traded, it's becoming harder to believe he and Shaquille O'Neal embodied the future of the franchise.

'SECOND STRING BUM'

"Just sitting in the locker room and coming in this morning and going to the shootaround, I wasn't anxious or anything to get in there and do whatever because I was coming to Orlando," he said. "It was just like another game."

It was also his ninth game in a row in a reserve role. Frank Johnson, who replaced Scott Skiles last month as coach of the Suns, has chosen to bring him off the bench for reasons that have nothing to do with his surgically repaired left knee.

Predictably, Hardaway was booed when he came in with 3:05 to go in the first quarter and whenever he touched the ball thereafter. Also not surprising is that his disposition is hardly sunny on the topic of not starting.

"Physically, I feel great," he said. "But coming off the bench is just something I'm doing because the coaching staff wants me to do that. I'm not going to make a fuss about it, but after this season, I don't want to do that."

A fan seated behind the Suns' basket during the first half held up a sign that said, "PENNY SECOND STRING BUM." That came off as borderline tame compared to a fan in Phoenix who blurted out "we're in trouble now" when Hardaway was getting ready to check in recently.

FOUR MORE YEARS

"What's wrong with him now probably is he doesn't like coming off the bench," Magic coach Doc Rivers said. "I don't know him well enough, but it doesn't seem like it takes a lot to get him sideways."

Hardaway, who ended up with 16 points and eight assists in 36 minutes in the Suns' 119-114 overtime loss, has four years remaining after this season on a contract worth nearly $85 million. At 30, the jury is still out on whether the Magic made out better than the Suns in acquiring Pat Garrity and two first-round draft picks for him.

If Johnson becomes the latest coach with whom he can't exist, Hardaway's travels could take him to his hometown of Memphis as the newest member of the Grizzlies.

"I don't want to put my foot in my mouth or whatever," he said. "I'd love to finish my career in Phoenix. But if that doesn't work, maybe that's an option."

He said he'd love to finish his career in Orlando, too. For now, perhaps he should concentrate on showing he's not just plain finished.