Larry Bird vs. Penny Hardaway Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Penny Hardaway and Larry Bird, from their rookie seasons to their last year played, in chronological order with awards, stats, championships and playoff performance of their teams every year.

Player comparisons:
Career comparison / Season by season

Who had the better rookie season? Who had best stats in their 10th season? Who won a championship first? These questions and many others, are answered here.

Larry Bird played 13 years in the NBA, 1 less than Penny Hardaway, who played 14. Larry Bird had the first of his seasons in 1979-80, while Penny Hardaway had his rookie season in 1993-94. With that starting point, here you can take a look at each of their seasons side by side and compare how their careers evolved in achivements, awards and championships won, the stats they recorded both in the Regular Season and the Playoffs and how their teams performed in the postseason.

Their Careers
Player	Total Seasons	Playoffs Played	NBA Years
Larry Bird	13	12	1979-80 to 1991-92
Penny Hardaway	14	8	1993-94 to 2007-08

Comparison Season by Season
Jump to season: 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12-13-14


Rookie Season
	Larry Bird	Penny Hardaway
Season	1979-80	1993-94
Team	Boston Celtics	Orlando Magic
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	Rookie of the Year	-
	All-Rookie First Team	All-Rookie First Team
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Conf Finals	Magic Lost East Conf 1st Rd

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Bird	82	36.0	21.3	2.6	7.8	10.4	4.5	1.7	0.6	3.2	3.4	8.5	17.8	.474	0.7	1.7	.406	3.7	4.4	.836
Penny Hardaway	82	36.8	16.0	2.3	3.0	5.4	6.6	2.3	0.6	3.6	2.5	6.2	13.3	.466	0.6	2.3	.267	3.0	4.0	.742

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Bird	9	41.3	21.3	2.4	8.8	11.2	4.7	1.6	0.9	3.7	3.3	9.2	19.7	.469	0.4	1.7	.267	2.4	2.8	.880
Penny Hardaway	3	44.3	18.7	2.7	4.0	6.7	7.0	1.7	2.0	6.7	3.3	7.3	16.7	.440	1.7	3.7	.455	2.3	3.3	.700


Season 2
	Larry Bird	Penny Hardaway
Season	1980-81	1994-95
Team	Boston Celtics	Orlando Magic
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	All-NBA First Team
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Magic Lost NBA Finals

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Bird	82	39.5	21.2	2.3	8.6	10.9	5.5	2.0	0.8	3.5	2.9	8.8	18.3	.478	0.2	0.9	.270	3.5	4.0	.863
Penny Hardaway	77	37.7	20.9	1.8	2.6	4.4	7.2	1.7	0.3	3.4	2.1	7.6	14.8	.512	1.1	3.2	.349	4.6	6.0	.769

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Bird	17	44.1	21.9	2.9	11.1	14.0	6.1	2.3	1.0	3.6	3.1	8.6	18.4	.470	0.2	0.5	.375	4.5	5.0	.894
Penny Hardaway	21	40.4	19.6	1.4	2.3	3.8	7.7	1.9	0.7	3.5	3.3	6.9	14.5	.472	1.9	4.7	.404	4.0	5.3	.757


Season 3
	Larry Bird	Penny Hardaway
Season	1981-82	1995-96
Team	Boston Celtics	Orlando Magic
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	All-NBA First Team
	All-Defensive Second Team	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
	All-Star Game NVP	-
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Conf Finals	Magic Lost East Conf Finals

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Bird	77	38.0	22.9	2.6	8.3	10.9	5.8	1.9	0.9	3.3	3.2	9.2	18.4	.503	0.1	0.7	.212	4.3	4.9	.863
Penny Hardaway	82	36.8	21.7	1.6	2.7	4.3	7.1	2.0	0.5	2.8	2.0	7.6	14.8	.513	1.1	3.5	.314	5.4	7.1	.767

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Bird	12	40.8	17.8	2.8	9.8	12.5	5.6	1.9	1.4	3.2	3.6	7.3	17.2	.427	0.1	0.5	.167	3.1	3.8	.822
Penny Hardaway	12	39.4	23.3	1.7	3.0	4.7	6.0	1.7	0.3	2.2	2.3	8.4	18.1	.465	1.7	4.6	.364	4.8	6.5	.744


Season 4
	Larry Bird	Penny Hardaway
Season	1982-83	1996-97
Team	Boston Celtics	Orlando Magic
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	-	All-NBA Third Team
	All-Defensive Second Team	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Conf Semis	Magic Lost East Conf 1st Rd

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Bird	79	37.7	23.6	2.4	8.6	11.0	5.8	1.9	0.9	3.0	2.5	9.5	18.7	.504	0.3	1.0	.286	4.4	5.3	.840
Penny Hardaway	59	37.6	20.5	1.4	3.1	4.5	5.6	1.6	0.6	2.5	2.1	7.1	15.9	.447	1.4	4.5	.318	4.8	5.8	.820

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Bird	6	40.0	20.5	3.3	9.2	12.5	6.8	2.2	0.5	3.2	2.5	8.2	19.3	.422	0.2	0.7	.250	4.0	4.8	.828
Penny Hardaway	5	44.4	31.0	1.4	4.6	6.0	3.4	2.4	1.4	1.8	2.8	10.4	22.2	.468	2.2	6.0	.367	8.0	10.8	.741


Season 5
	Larry Bird	Penny Hardaway
Season	1983-84	1997-98
Team	Boston Celtics	Orlando Magic
Honors & Awards	Finals MVP	-
	Season MVP	-
	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Defensive Second Team	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Did Not Play

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Bird	79	38.3	24.2	2.3	7.8	10.1	6.6	1.8	0.9	3.0	2.5	9.6	19.5	.492	0.2	0.9	.247	4.7	5.3	.888
Penny Hardaway	19	32.9	16.4	0.4	3.6	4.0	3.6	1.5	0.8	2.4	2.4	5.4	14.4	.377	0.8	2.6	.300	4.7	6.2	.763

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Bird	23	41.8	27.5	2.7	8.3	11.0	5.9	2.3	1.2	3.8	3.1	10.0	19.0	.524	0.3	0.7	.412	7.3	8.3	.879
Penny Hardaway	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 6
	Larry Bird	Penny Hardaway
Season	1984-85	1998-99
Team	Boston Celtics	Orlando Magic
Honors & Awards	Season MVP	-
	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Celtics Lost NBA Finals	Magic Lost East Conf 1st Rd

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Bird	80	39.5	28.7	2.1	8.5	10.5	6.6	1.6	1.2	3.1	2.6	11.5	22.0	.522	0.7	1.6	.427	5.0	5.7	.882
Penny Hardaway	50	38.9	15.8	1.5	4.2	5.7	5.3	2.2	0.5	3.0	2.2	6.0	14.3	.420	0.8	2.8	.286	3.0	4.2	.706

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Bird	20	40.8	26.0	2.7	6.5	9.1	5.8	1.7	1.0	2.9	2.7	9.8	21.3	.461	0.4	1.3	.280	6.1	6.8	.890
Penny Hardaway	4	41.8	19.0	2.3	2.8	5.0	5.5	2.3	0.3	3.0	3.3	5.0	14.3	.351	1.5	3.3	.462	7.5	9.8	.769


Season 7
	Larry Bird	Penny Hardaway
Season	1985-86	1999-00
Team	Boston Celtics	Phoenix Suns
Honors & Awards	Finals MVP	-
	Season MVP	-
	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Suns Lost West Conf Semis

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Bird	82	38.0	25.8	2.3	7.5	9.8	6.8	2.0	0.6	3.2	2.2	9.7	19.6	.496	1.0	2.4	.423	5.4	6.0	.896
Penny Hardaway	60	37.6	16.9	1.5	4.3	5.8	5.3	1.6	0.6	2.6	2.7	6.3	13.3	.474	0.6	1.7	.324	3.8	4.8	.790

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Bird	18	42.8	25.9	1.9	7.4	9.3	8.2	2.1	0.6	2.6	3.1	9.5	18.4	.517	1.3	3.1	.411	5.6	6.1	.927
Penny Hardaway	9	42.8	20.3	1.6	3.3	4.9	5.7	1.6	1.0	2.8	3.2	7.4	16.1	.462	0.6	2.1	.263	4.9	6.9	.710


Season 8
	Larry Bird	Penny Hardaway
Season	1986-87	2000-01
Team	Boston Celtics	Phoenix Suns
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Celtics Lost NBA Finals	Did Not Play

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Bird	74	40.6	28.1	1.7	7.5	9.2	7.6	1.8	0.9	3.2	2.5	10.6	20.2	.525	1.2	3.0	.400	5.6	6.1	.910
Penny Hardaway	4	28.0	9.8	1.3	3.3	4.5	3.8	1.5	0.3	0.8	1.5	3.8	9.0	.417	0.5	2.0	.250	1.8	2.8	.636

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Bird	23	44.1	27.0	1.8	8.3	10.0	7.2	1.2	0.8	3.1	2.4	9.4	19.7	.476	0.6	1.8	.341	7.7	8.4	.912
Penny Hardaway	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 9
	Larry Bird	Penny Hardaway
Season	1987-88	2001-02
Team	Boston Celtics	Phoenix Suns
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Conf Finals	Did Not Play

more >>

Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Bird	76	39.0	29.9	1.4	7.8	9.3	6.1	1.6	0.8	2.8	2.1	11.6	22.0	.527	1.3	3.1	.414	5.5	6.0	.916
Penny Hardaway	80	30.8	12.0	1.2	3.2	4.4	4.1	1.5	0.4	2.4	2.3	4.9	11.6	.418	0.3	1.0	.277	2.0	2.4	.810

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Bird	17	44.9	24.5	1.7	7.1	8.8	6.8	2.1	0.8	2.9	2.6	8.9	19.9	.450	0.7	1.9	.375	5.9	6.6	.894
Penny Hardaway	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 10
	Larry Bird	Penny Hardaway
Season	1988-89	2002-03
Team	Boston Celtics	Phoenix Suns
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Suns Lost West Conf 1st Rd

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Bird	6	31.5	19.3	0.2	6.0	6.2	4.8	1.0	0.8	1.8	3.0	8.2	17.3	.471	0.0	0.0	-	3.0	3.2	.947
Penny Hardaway	58	30.6	10.6	1.1	3.3	4.4	4.1	1.1	0.4	2.5	2.6	4.4	9.9	.447	0.4	1.3	.356	1.3	1.7	.794

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Bird	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Penny Hardaway	6	40.7	12.7	1.5	4.5	6.0	4.3	2.2	0.8	2.2	4.3	4.5	11.7	.386	1.5	4.2	.360	2.2	3.0	.722


Season 11
	Larry Bird	Penny Hardaway
Season	1989-90	2003-04
Team	Boston Celtics	Phoenix Suns, New York Knicks
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Conf 1st Rd	Knicks Lost East Conf 1st Rd

more >>

Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Bird	75	39.3	24.3	1.2	8.3	9.5	7.5	1.4	0.8	3.2	2.3	9.6	20.2	.473	0.9	2.6	.333	4.3	4.6	.930
Penny Hardaway	76	27.6	9.2	0.9	2.9	3.8	2.3	0.9	0.3	1.4	1.9	3.7	8.9	.411	0.4	1.0	.380	1.5	1.8	.804

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Bird	5	41.4	24.4	1.4	7.8	9.2	8.8	1.0	1.0	3.6	2.0	8.8	19.8	.444	1.0	3.8	.263	5.8	6.4	.906
Penny Hardaway	4	42.0	16.5	1.0	3.5	4.5	5.8	1.5	0.3	2.5	2.0	5.8	15.8	.365	1.3	3.5	.357	3.8	4.5	.833


Season 12
	Larry Bird	Penny Hardaway
Season	1990-91	2004-05
Team	Boston Celtics	New York Knicks
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Conf Semis	Did Not Play

more >>

Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Bird	60	38.0	19.4	0.9	7.6	8.5	7.2	1.8	1.0	3.1	2.0	7.7	17.0	.454	1.3	3.3	.389	2.7	3.1	.891
Penny Hardaway	37	24.2	7.3	0.5	1.9	2.4	2.0	0.8	0.1	1.4	2.1	3.0	7.0	.423	0.4	1.4	.300	0.9	1.2	.739

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Bird	10	39.6	17.1	0.8	6.4	7.2	6.5	1.3	0.3	1.9	2.8	6.2	15.2	.408	0.3	2.1	.143	4.4	5.1	.863
Penny Hardaway	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 13
	Larry Bird	Penny Hardaway
Season	1991-92	2005-06
Team	Boston Celtics	New York Knicks
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Conf Semis	Did Not Play

more >>

Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Bird	45	36.9	20.2	1.0	8.6	9.6	6.8	0.9	0.7	2.8	1.8	7.8	16.8	.466	1.2	2.8	.406	3.3	3.6	.926
Penny Hardaway	4	18.0	2.5	0.0	2.5	2.5	2.0	0.5	0.0	1.5	1.8	1.0	3.5	.286	0.0	0.3	.000	0.5	0.5	1.000

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Bird	4	26.8	11.3	0.5	4.0	4.5	5.3	0.3	0.5	1.5	1.8	5.3	10.5	.500	0.0	1.3	.000	0.8	1.0	.750
Penny Hardaway	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Note: Penny Hardaway didn't play in 2006-07.


Season 14
	Larry Bird	Penny Hardaway
Season	-	2007-08
Team	-	Miami Heat
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	-	Did Not Play

more >>

Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Bird	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Penny Hardaway	16	20.3	3.8	0.2	2.0	2.2	2.2	1.2	0.1	0.8	1.5	1.4	3.8	.367	0.5	1.2	.421	0.5	0.6	.889

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Bird	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Penny Hardaway	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Larry Bird vs. Penny Hardaway Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Penny Hardaway and Larry Bird, from their rookie seasons to their last year played, in chronological order with awards, stats, championships and playoff performance of their teams every year.

Their Careers

Comparison Season by Season

Rookie Season

Season 2

Season 3

Season 4

Season 5

Season 6

Season 7

Season 8

Season 9

Season 10

Season 11

Season 12

Season 13

Season 14