Penny Hardaway vs. Rudy LaRusso Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Rudy LaRusso 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, 4 more than Rudy LaRusso, who played 10. Penny Hardaway had the first of his seasons in 1993-94, while Rudy LaRusso had his rookie season in 1959-60. 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.

Comparison Season by Season
Jump to season: 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12-13-14
Rookie Season
	Penny Hardaway	Rudy LaRusso
Season	1993-94	1959-60
Team	Orlando Magic	Minneapolis Lakers
Honors & Awards	All-Rookie First Team	-
Playoffs	Magic Lost East Conf 1st Rd	Lakers Lost West Div 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		%
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
Rudy LaRusso	71	29.5	13.7	-	-	9.6	1.2	-	-	-	3.1	5.0	12.9	.389	-	-	-	3.7	5.0	.742
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
Rudy LaRusso	9	35.7	15.4	-	-	7.8	2.4	-	-	-	3.8	6.2	14.7	.424	-	-	-	3.0	3.9	.771

Season 2
	Penny Hardaway	Rudy LaRusso
Season	1994-95	1960-61
Team	Orlando Magic	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Magic Lost NBA Finals	Lakers Lost West Div 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		%
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
Rudy LaRusso	79	32.8	14.6	-	-	9.9	1.7	-	-	-	3.5	5.3	12.6	.419	-	-	-	4.1	5.2	.790
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
Rudy LaRusso	12	30.0	12.2	-	-	8.0	2.0	-	-	-	3.6	4.8	12.0	.396	-	-	-	2.7	4.0	.667

Season 3
	Penny Hardaway	Rudy LaRusso
Season	1995-96	1961-62
Team	Orlando Magic	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Magic Lost East Conf Finals	Lakers 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		%
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
Rudy LaRusso	80	34.4	17.2	-	-	10.4	2.2	-	-	-	3.2	6.5	13.9	.466	-	-	-	4.3	5.6	.763
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
Rudy LaRusso	13	35.5	14.1	-	-	9.1	1.7	-	-	-	3.9	4.4	12.0	.365	-	-	-	5.3	7.0	.758

Season 4
	Penny Hardaway	Rudy LaRusso
Season	1996-97	1962-63
Team	Orlando Magic	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Third Team	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Magic Lost East Conf 1st Rd	Lakers 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		%
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
Rudy LaRusso	75	33.4	12.3	-	-	10.0	2.5	-	-	-	3.4	4.3	10.1	.422	-	-	-	3.8	5.2	.718
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
Rudy LaRusso	13	35.8	14.4	-	-	9.8	2.2	-	-	-	4.5	5.0	11.8	.422	-	-	-	4.4	5.8	.760

Season 5
	Penny Hardaway	Rudy LaRusso
Season	1997-98	1963-64
Team	Orlando Magic	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Lakers Lost West Div 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		%
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
Rudy LaRusso	79	34.8	12.3	-	-	10.1	2.4	-	-	-	3.4	4.3	9.8	.434	-	-	-	3.8	5.0	.751
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Penny Hardaway	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Rudy LaRusso	5	37.8	9.0	-	-	6.0	2.2	-	-	-	4.6	2.6	6.6	.394	-	-	-	3.8	4.4	.864

Season 7
	Penny Hardaway	Rudy LaRusso
Season	1999-00	1965-66
Team	Phoenix Suns	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Suns Lost West Conf Semis	Lakers 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		%
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
Rudy LaRusso	76	30.5	15.4	-	-	8.7	2.2	-	-	-	3.4	5.4	11.8	.457	-	-	-	4.6	5.9	.787
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
Rudy LaRusso	14	28.4	11.9	-	-	7.1	1.9	-	-	-	3.4	4.1	8.9	.460	-	-	-	3.8	4.8	.791

Season 9
	Penny Hardaway	Rudy LaRusso
Season	2001-02	1967-68
Team	Phoenix Suns	San Francisco Warriors
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Warriors Lost West Div 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		%
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
Rudy LaRusso	79	35.7	21.8	-	-	9.4	2.3	-	-	-	4.3	7.6	17.6	.433	-	-	-	6.6	8.4	.790
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Penny Hardaway	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Rudy LaRusso	10	38.5	20.3	-	-	9.9	1.7	-	-	-	3.5	7.2	18.2	.396	-	-	-	5.9	8.1	.728

Season 10
	Penny Hardaway	Rudy LaRusso
Season	2002-03	1968-69
Team	Phoenix Suns	San Francisco Warriors
Honors & Awards	-	All-Defensive Second Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Suns Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Warriors Lost West Div 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		%
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
Rudy LaRusso	75	37.1	20.7	-	-	8.3	2.1	-	-	-	3.6	7.4	18.0	.410	-	-	-	5.9	7.5	.794
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
Rudy LaRusso	6	35.8	18.2	-	-	8.5	2.5	-	-	-	3.8	5.7	15.0	.378	-	-	-	6.8	8.8	.774

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