Penny Hardaway thinks his former teammate, Shaquille O'Neal, would've made plenty of Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) money during his college career at LSU.

Hardaway appeared as a guest on Tuesday's episode of "The Big Podcast with Shaq" and spent some time reminiscing about their time with the Orlando Magic. They also talked about Hardaway's current job as Memphis basketball coach and the changing college sports landscape with the rise of NIL deals.

"We're in a world right now where it's happening, it's here, there's nothing you can do about it," Hardaway said. "And it's survival of the fittest. You have to have a fan base that understands that you have to have the donors and the (Memphis) Rebounders and the boosters that understand. You have to have a president and an AD that believe in it and understand it. So it's a whole thing now. And it's not about hooping anymore, Shaq. Who knows what you would've gotten coming out of LSU now. That would've been crazy numbers."

Hardaway said O'Neal would've made "four, five million" dollars in NIL deals during his time at LSU.

O'Neal asked if Hardaway believes there should be some kind of NIL governing body to regulate things.

"I would love that, because there should be a governing body," Hardaway said. "I think what's making the boosters and the donors around the country frown is because they can give a guy 5, 6, 800K, and he could have the best year of his life. But if someone offers him $2 million next year, he's gone. And that's what's the problem is with college sports right now."

The two also spent plenty of time talking about their Magic team that went to the NBA Finals, with Shaq saying multiple times that the two never got in an argument when they played together.

"What a lot of people don't understand is you came in, 'him,'" O'Neal said. "It took the other guy a couple years to get 'him.' But then I said to myself, we never had a (expletive) argument. No, seriously."

"Not one," Hardaway said.

"Never had an argument, never had a fight, he never missed me on a pass, I tried to never miss him on a pass," O'Neal said. "So the more I think about it, when I left, they tried to make it a me and him thing. It was more about an ego thing."

O'Neal and Hardaway played together on the Magic from 1993-96, reaching the NBA Finals in 1995. That Magic team beat the Chicago Bulls, with a returning Michael Jordan, in the conference semifinals but Shaq said he was "doing too much" in the break between the conference finals and NBA Finals.

The Magic ultimately lost to the Houston Rockets in four games.

"I think what it taught me is to never celebrate until the job is done," O'Neal said. "Because after we beat them, we were happy, Pacers knocked us around (in the conference finals), we eventually got it back. But now that we got to the finals, me, personally, I was doing way too much."

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While O'Neal left the Magic and went on to win four NBA championships with the Los Angeles Lakers and Miami Heat, Hardaway's NBA career was hampered by injuries. He stayed with Orlando until 1999, when he was traded to the Phoenix Suns.

The two also talked about a question NBA fans have been asking for more than 25 years: How many titles could that Magic team have won if they'd stayed together, and everyone stayed healthy? O'Neal said that's his biggest "if" question and it "burns me to my soul."

O'Neal also said he constantly gets asked by kids to compare playing with Hardaway and playing with Kobe Bryant.

"I always say, 'Penny was Kobe before Kobe.' And the kids before the social media era, they act like they don't understand what I'm telling them," O'Neal said. "Then I have to tell them, 'Do you have Google, you little stupid? Look and see who Penny was."

Reach sports writer Jonah Dylan at jonah.dylan@commercialappeal.com or on X @thejonahdylan.

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Memphis basketball coach Penny Hardaway shares his thoughts on NIL