Penny Hardaway and Rick Barnes got off to a rocky start as the Tennessee-Memphis rivalry was renewed in 2018 — that may be putting it lightly.
Here’s the short version of the story.
Barnes beat Hardaway’s Tigers in Memphis last year 102-92, but the game wasn’t what took center stage afterwards. At the end of the matchup, Tennessee had grown frustrated with with constant flopping from Memphis. Jordan Bone and Alex Lomax had words, and Hardaway accused Tennessee players after the game of coming over with their fists balled ready to fight.
Both Bone and Barnes criticized the flopping after the game.