Billy Cunningham vs. Penny Hardaway Season by Season Comparison

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

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.

Billy Cunningham played 9 years in the NBA, 5 less than Penny Hardaway, who played 14. Billy Cunningham had the first of his seasons in 1965-66, 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 achievements, awards and championships won, the stats they recorded both in the Regular Season and the Playoffs and how their teams performed in the postseason.

Rookie Season
	Billy Cunningham	Penny Hardaway
Season	1965-66	1993-94
Team	Philadelphia 76ers	Orlando Magic
Honors & Awards	All-Rookie First Team	All-Rookie First Team
Playoffs	76ers Lost East Div Finals	Magic Lost East Conf 1st Rd

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Rookie Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Billy Cunningham	80	26.7	14.3	-	-	7.5	2.6	-	-	-	3.8	5.4	12.6	.426	-	-	-	3.5	5.5	.634
difference:	+2	+10.1	+1.7			+2.1	+4.0				-1.3	+0.8	+0.7	+.040				+0.5	+1.5	+.108
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		%
Billy Cunningham	4	17.3	5.3	-	-	4.5	2.5	-	-	-	2.8	1.3	7.8	.161	-	-	-	2.8	3.3	.846
difference:	+1	+27.0	+13.4			+2.2	+4.5				-0.5	+6.0	+8.9	+.279				+0.5		+.146
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
	Billy Cunningham	Penny Hardaway
Season	1966-67	1994-95
Team	Philadelphia 76ers	Orlando Magic
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Magic Lost NBA Finals

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2nd Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Billy Cunningham	81	26.8	18.5	-	-	7.3	2.5	-	-	-	3.2	6.9	15.0	.459	-	-	-	4.7	6.9	.686
difference:	+4	+10.9	+2.4			+2.9	+4.7				-1.1	+0.7	+0.2	+.053				+0.1	+0.9	+.083
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		%
Billy Cunningham	15	22.6	15.0	-	-	6.2	2.2	-	-	-	3.5	5.5	14.7	.376	-	-	-	3.9	6.0	.656
difference:	+6	+17.8	+4.6			+2.4	+5.5				-0.2	+1.4	+0.2	+.096				+0.1	+0.7	+.101
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
	Billy Cunningham	Penny Hardaway
Season	1967-68	1995-96
Team	Philadelphia 76ers	Orlando Magic
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	76ers Lost East Div Finals	Magic Lost East Conf Finals

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3rd Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Billy Cunningham	74	28.1	18.9	-	-	7.6	2.5	-	-	-	3.5	7.0	15.9	.438	-	-	-	5.0	6.9	.723
difference:	+8	+8.7	+2.8			+3.3	+4.6				-1.5	+0.6	+1.1	+.075				+0.4	+0.2	+.044
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		%
Billy Cunningham	3	28.7	20.7	-	-	7.3	3.3	-	-	-	5.3	8.0	14.3	.558	-	-	-	4.7	5.7	.824
difference:	+9	+10.7	+2.6			+2.6	+2.7				-3.0	+0.4	+3.8	+.093				+0.1	+0.8	+.080
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
	Billy Cunningham	Penny Hardaway
Season	1968-69	1996-97
Team	Philadelphia 76ers	Orlando Magic
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	-	All-NBA Third Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	76ers Lost East Div Semis	Magic Lost East Conf 1st Rd

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4th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Billy Cunningham	82	40.8	24.8	-	-	12.8	3.5	-	-	-	4.0	9.0	21.2	.426	-	-	-	6.8	9.2	.737
difference:	+23	+3.2	+4.3			+8.3	+2.1				-1.9	+1.9	+5.3	+.021				+2.0	+3.4	+.083
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		%
Billy Cunningham	5	43.4	24.4	-	-	12.6	2.4	-	-	-	4.8	9.8	23.4	.419	-	-	-	4.8	7.6	.632
difference:		+1.0	+6.6			+6.6	+1.0				-2.0	+0.6	+1.2	+.049				+3.2	+3.2	+.109
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
	Billy Cunningham	Penny Hardaway
Season	1969-70	1997-98
Team	Philadelphia 76ers	Orlando Magic
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	76ers Lost East Div Semis	Did Not Play

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5th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Billy Cunningham	81	39.4	26.1	-	-	13.6	4.3	-	-	-	4.1	9.9	21.1	.469	-	-	-	6.3	8.6	.729
difference:	+62	+6.5	+9.7			+9.6	+0.7				-1.7	+4.5	+6.7	+.092				+1.6	+2.4	+.034
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		%
Billy Cunningham	5	41.0	29.2	-	-	10.4	4.0	-	-	-	3.8	12.2	24.6	.496	-	-	-	4.8	7.2	.667
Penny Hardaway	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 6
	Billy Cunningham	Penny Hardaway
Season	1970-71	1998-99
Team	Philadelphia 76ers	Orlando Magic
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	76ers Lost East Conf Semis	Magic Lost East Conf 1st Rd

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6th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Billy Cunningham	81	38.1	23.0	-	-	11.7	4.9	-	-	-	4.0	8.7	18.8	.462	-	-	-	5.6	7.7	.734
difference:	+31	+0.8	+7.2			+6.0	+0.4				-1.8	+2.7	+4.5	+.042				+2.6	+3.5	+.028
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		%
Billy Cunningham	7	43.0	25.9	-	-	15.4	5.7	-	-	-	4.0	9.6	20.3	.472	-	-	-	6.7	9.6	.701
difference:	+3	+1.2	+6.9			+10.4	+0.2				-0.7	+4.6	+6.0	+.121				+0.8	+0.2	+.068
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
	Billy Cunningham	Penny Hardaway
Season	1971-72	1999-00
Team	Philadelphia 76ers	Phoenix Suns
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Suns Lost West Conf Semis

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7th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Billy Cunningham	75	38.7	23.3	-	-	12.2	5.9	-	-	-	3.9	8.8	19.0	.461	-	-	-	5.7	8.0	.712
difference:	+15	+1.1	+6.4			+6.4	+0.6				-1.2	+2.5	+5.7	+.013				+1.9	+3.2	+.078
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		%
Billy Cunningham	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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

Note: Billy Cunningham didn't play in 1972-73 and 1973-74.