Penny Hardaway vs. Paul Pierce Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Paul Pierce and Penny Hardaway, 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.

Penny Hardaway played 14 years in the NBA, 5 less than Paul Pierce, who played 19. Penny Hardaway had the first of his seasons in 1993-94, while Paul Pierce had his rookie season in 1998-99. 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
	Penny Hardaway	Paul Pierce
Season	1993-94	1998-99
Team	Orlando Magic	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	All-Rookie First Team	All-Rookie First Team
Playoffs	Magic Lost East Conf 1st Rd	Did Not Play

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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		%
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
difference:	+34	+2.8	+0.5	+0.1	+1.0	+1.0	+4.2	+0.6	+0.4	-1.2	-0.4	+0.3	+0.2	+.027	+1.2	+2.0	+.145	+0.1	+0.1	+.029
Paul Pierce	48	34.0	16.5	2.4	4.0	6.4	2.4	1.7	1.0	2.4	2.9	5.9	13.5	.439	1.8	4.3	.412	2.9	4.1	.713
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
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
Paul Pierce	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 2
	Penny Hardaway	Paul Pierce
Season	1994-95	1999-00
Team	Orlando Magic	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Magic Lost NBA Finals	Did Not Play

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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		%
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
difference:	+4	+2.3	+1.4	+0.7	+1.7	+1.0	+4.2	+0.4	+0.5	-1.0	-1.1	+0.9	+0.3	+.070	+0.2	+0.6	+.006	+0.3	+0.2	+.029
Paul Pierce	73	35.4	19.5	1.1	4.3	5.4	3.0	2.1	0.8	2.4	3.2	6.7	15.1	.442	1.3	3.8	.343	4.9	6.2	.798
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
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
Paul Pierce	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 3
	Penny Hardaway	Paul Pierce
Season	1995-96	2000-01
Team	Orlando Magic	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Magic Lost East Conf Finals	Did Not Play

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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		%
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
difference:		+1.2	+3.6	+0.5	+2.5	+2.1	+4.0	+0.3	+0.3	-0.4	-1.1	+0.8	+3.7	+.059	+0.7	+1.2	+.069	+1.3	+1.9	+.022
Paul Pierce	82	38.0	25.3	1.1	5.2	6.4	3.1	1.7	0.8	3.2	3.1	8.4	18.5	.454	1.8	4.7	.383	6.7	9.0	.745
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
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
Paul Pierce	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 4
	Penny Hardaway	Paul Pierce
Season	1996-97	2001-02
Team	Orlando Magic	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Third Team	All-NBA Third Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Magic Lost East Conf 1st Rd	Celtics Lost East Conf Finals

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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		%
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
difference:	+23	+2.7	+5.6	+0.4	+2.8	+2.4	+2.4	+0.3	+0.4	-0.4	-0.8	+1.5	+3.6	+.005	+1.2	+1.8	+.086	+1.5	+2.0	+.011
Paul Pierce	82	40.3	26.1	1.0	5.9	6.9	3.2	1.9	1.0	2.9	2.9	8.6	19.5	.442	2.6	6.3	.404	6.3	7.8	.809
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
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
difference:	+11	+2.4	+6.4	+0.3	+2.3	+2.6	+0.7	+0.7	+0.1	-2.0	-0.5	+2.8	+3.3	+.065	+0.3	+0.5	+.079	+0.5	+1.0	+.023
Paul Pierce	16	42.0	24.6	1.7	6.9	8.6	4.1	1.7	1.3	3.8	3.3	7.6	18.9	.403	1.9	6.5	.288	7.5	9.8	.764

Season 5
	Penny Hardaway	Paul Pierce
Season	1997-98	2002-03
Team	Orlando Magic	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Third Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Celtics Lost East Conf Semis

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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		%
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
difference:	+60	+6.3	+9.5	+0.9	+2.4	+3.3	+0.8	+0.3		-1.2	-0.5	+3.0	+5.8	+.039	+0.7	+2.3	+.002	+2.9	+3.3	+.039
Paul Pierce	79	39.2	25.9	1.3	6.0	7.3	4.4	1.8	0.8	3.6	2.9	8.4	20.2	.416	1.5	4.9	.302	7.6	9.5	.802
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Penny Hardaway	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Paul Pierce	10	44.5	27.1	1.1	7.9	9.0	6.7	2.1	0.8	4.4	3.8	7.7	19.3	.399	1.6	4.5	.356	10.1	11.7	.863

Season 6
	Penny Hardaway	Paul Pierce
Season	1998-99	2003-04
Team	Orlando Magic	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Magic Lost East Conf 1st Rd	Celtics 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		%
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
difference:	+30	+0.2	+7.2	+0.6	+1.5	+0.8	+0.2	+0.6	+0.2	-0.8	-0.7	+1.5	+4.4	+.018	+0.6	+2.0	+.013	+3.5	+3.7	+.113
Paul Pierce	80	38.7	23.0	0.9	5.7	6.5	5.1	1.6	0.7	3.8	2.9	7.5	18.7	.402	1.4	4.8	.299	6.5	7.9	.819
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
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
difference:		+1.0	+1.8	+0.8	+4.5	+3.8	+3.0	+1.0	+0.7	-3.3	-0.3	+1.5	+4.7	+.009	+0.2	+1.0	+.168	+1.0	+2.0	+.070
Paul Pierce	4	40.8	20.8	1.5	7.3	8.8	2.5	1.3	1.0	6.3	3.0	6.5	19.0	.342	1.3	4.3	.294	6.5	7.8	.839

Season 7
	Penny Hardaway	Paul Pierce
Season	1999-00	2004-05
Team	Phoenix Suns	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Suns Lost West Conf Semis	Celtics Lost East Conf 1st Rd

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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		%
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
difference:	+22	+1.5	+4.7	+0.5	+1.3	+0.8	+1.1		+0.1	-0.2	-0.4	+0.5	+1.6	+.019	+0.7	+1.9	+.046	+2.9	+3.3	+.032
Paul Pierce	82	36.1	21.6	1.0	5.6	6.6	4.2	1.6	0.5	2.8	3.1	6.8	14.9	.455	1.3	3.6	.370	6.7	8.1	.822
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
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
difference:	+2	+3.1	+2.6	+0.6	+3.4	+2.8	+1.1	+0.3	+0.4	-0.1	-0.6	+0.7	+2.8	+.043	+0.4	+1.8	+.004	+3.5	+2.8	+.158
Paul Pierce	7	39.7	22.9	1.0	6.7	7.7	4.6	1.9	1.4	2.7	2.6	6.7	13.3	.505	1.0	3.9	.259	8.4	9.7	.868

Season 8
	Penny Hardaway	Paul Pierce
Season	2000-01	2005-06
Team	Phoenix Suns	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Did Not Play

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8th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
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
difference:	+75	+11.0	+17.0	+0.3	+2.4	+2.2	+0.9	+0.1	+0.1	-2.7	-1.3	+4.9	+9.5	+.054	+0.9	+2.0	+.104	+6.1	+7.5	+.136
Paul Pierce	79	39.0	26.8	1.0	5.7	6.7	4.7	1.4	0.4	3.5	2.8	8.7	18.5	.471	1.4	4.0	.354	7.9	10.3	.772
Playoffs Stats
* Neiher Penny Hardaway nor Paul Pierce played in the postseason in their season 8

Season 10
	Penny Hardaway	Paul Pierce
Season	2002-03	2007-08
Team	Phoenix Suns	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	Finals MVP
	-	All-NBA Third Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Suns Lost West Conf 1st Rd	NBA Champion

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10th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
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
difference:	+22	+5.3	+9.0	+0.4	+1.2	+0.7	+0.4	+0.2	+0.1	-0.3	-0.1	+2.0	+3.8	+.017	+1.4	+3.3	+.036	+3.8	+4.4	+.049
Paul Pierce	80	35.9	19.6	0.7	4.5	5.1	4.5	1.3	0.5	2.8	2.5	6.4	13.7	.464	1.8	4.6	.392	5.1	6.1	.843
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
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
difference:	+20	+2.6	+7.0	+0.7	+0.3	+1.0	+0.3	+1.1	+0.5	-1.0	-0.8	+1.8	+2.5	+.055	+0.2	+0.4	+.001	+3.3	+3.8	+.080
Paul Pierce	26	38.1	19.7	0.8	4.2	5.0	4.6	1.1	0.3	3.2	3.5	6.3	14.2	.441	1.7	4.6	.361	5.5	6.8	.802

Season 11
	Penny Hardaway	Paul Pierce
Season	2003-04	2008-09
Team	Phoenix Suns, New York Knicks	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Knicks Lost East Conf 1st Rd	Celtics Lost East Conf Semis

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11th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
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
difference:	+5	+9.9	+11.3	+0.2	+2.1	+1.8	+1.3	+0.1		-1.4	-0.8	+3.0	+5.7	+.046	+1.1	+2.8	+.011	+4.2	+5.0	+.026
Paul Pierce	81	37.5	20.5	0.7	5.0	5.6	3.6	1.0	0.3	2.8	2.7	6.7	14.6	.457	1.5	3.8	.391	5.7	6.8	.830
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
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
difference:	+10	+2.3	+4.5	+0.7	+2.0	+1.3	+2.7	+0.4	+0.1	-0.1	-1.1	+1.0		+.065	+0.1	+0.6	+.024	+2.3	+2.7	+.009
Paul Pierce	14	39.7	21.0	0.3	5.5	5.8	3.1	1.1	0.4	2.4	3.1	6.8	15.8	.430	1.4	4.1	.333	6.1	7.2	.842

Season 12
	Penny Hardaway	Paul Pierce
Season	2004-05	2009-10
Team	New York Knicks	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Celtics Lost NBA Finals

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12th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
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
difference:	+34	+9.8	+11.0		+1.9	+2.0	+1.1	+0.4	+0.3	-0.9	-0.7	+2.8	+5.2	+.049	+1.1	+2.3	+.114	+4.3	+4.9	+.113
Paul Pierce	71	34.0	18.3	0.5	3.8	4.4	3.1	1.2	0.4	2.3	2.8	5.8	12.2	.472	1.5	3.7	.414	5.2	6.1	.852
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Penny Hardaway	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Paul Pierce	24	38.8	18.8	0.8	5.1	6.0	3.4	1.0	0.6	2.7	3.3	6.1	14.0	.438	1.7	4.3	.392	4.9	5.9	.824

Season 13
	Penny Hardaway	Paul Pierce
Season	2005-06	2010-11
Team	New York Knicks	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Celtics Lost East Conf Semis

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13th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
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
difference:	+76	+16.7	+16.4	+0.4	+2.5	+2.9	+1.3	+0.5	+0.6	-0.6	-1.1	+5.3	+9.3	+.211	+1.4	+3.4	+.374	+4.3	+5.1	+.140
Paul Pierce	80	34.7	18.9	0.4	5.0	5.4	3.3	1.0	0.6	2.1	2.9	6.3	12.8	.497	1.4	3.7	.374	4.8	5.6	.860
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Penny Hardaway	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Paul Pierce	9	38.1	20.8	0.6	4.4	5.0	2.8	1.3	0.4	2.7	3.3	7.6	16.4	.459	2.3	5.2	.447	3.3	3.8	.882

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

Season 14
	Penny Hardaway	Paul Pierce
Season	2007-08	2011-12
Team	Miami Heat	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Celtics Lost East Conf Finals

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14th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
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
difference:	+45	+13.7	+15.6	+0.4	+2.6	+3.0	+2.3	+0.1	+0.3	-2.0	-0.9	+5.1	+10.8	+.076	+1.1	+3.3	+.055	+4.3	+5.0	+.037
Paul Pierce	61	34.0	19.4	0.6	4.6	5.2	4.5	1.1	0.4	2.8	2.4	6.5	14.6	.443	1.6	4.5	.366	4.8	5.6	.852
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Penny Hardaway	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Paul Pierce	20	38.9	18.9	0.7	5.4	6.1	3.1	1.5	0.9	2.8	3.4	6.0	15.6	.386	1.4	4.4	.310	5.5	6.2	.894