Joel Embiid vs. Penny Hardaway: Career Scoring Comparison
We break down the scoring legacies of Penny Hardaway and Joel Embiid to determine who has the better numbers. Here you can compare their career totals, points per game, games of 40+ points, 50+, etc. and their year-by-year scoring averages side by side, both in the Regular Season and Playoffs.
Joel Embiid has one of the highest career point averages in NBA history, and here we compare his scoring stats with those recorded by Penny Hardaway.
By taking a look at their career numbers for points, the first conclusion one can arrive at is that Joel Embiid has better scoring stats than Penny Hardaway in averages and totals, both in the regular season and Playoffs. However, we won't stop there and we'll go into detail to analyze what these statistics are made up of, from how many games they had in each threshold (30+ points, 40+, 50+, etc.) to their season-by-season scoring averages.
On this page we compare: |
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Who has better scoring stats? Career Numbers |
Career Numbers
Who has the better scoring stats?
Points in the Regular Season
In his 9 NBA regular seasons played, Joel Embiid averages 12.5 points more than Penny Hardaway in his 14 seasons (27.7 points against 15.2), and he also scored a total of 1,839 points more (12,523 vs. 10,684).
Points Per Game | Seasons | ||
| Joel Embiid | 27.7 | +12.5 | 9 |
| Penny Hardaway | 15.2 | 14 | |
Total Points | Seasons | ||
| Joel Embiid | 12,523 | +1,839 | 9 |
| Penny Hardaway | 10,684 | 14 | |
Scoring Titles | ||
| Joel Embiid | 2 |  +2 |
| Penny Hardaway | 0 | |
Points in the Playoffs
Similar to what happens in the regular season, in the NBA postseason Joel Embiid has a better career point average than Penny Hardaway (+4.5 points per game) and he also scored more points (+165).
Points Per Game | Playoffs | ||
| Joel Embiid | 24.9 | +4.5 | 7 |
| Penny Hardaway | 20.4 | 8 | |
Total Points | Playoffs | ||
| Joel Embiid | 1,469 | +165 | 7 |
| Penny Hardaway | 1,304 | 8 | |
Points by Thresholds
Regular Season
70+ Point Games | ||||
| Joel Embiid | 1 | +1 | ||
| Penny Hardaway | 0 | |||
60+ Point Games | ||||
| Joel Embiid | 1 | +1 | ||
| Penny Hardaway | 0 | |||
50+ Point Games | ||||
| Joel Embiid | 8 | +8 | ||
| Penny Hardaway | 0 | |||
20+ Point Games | ||||
| Joel Embiid | 362 | +147 | ||
| Penny Hardaway | 215 | |||
10+ Point Games | ||||
| Joel Embiid | 443 | |||
| Penny Hardaway | 502 | +59 | ||
1+ Point Games (games with points) | ||||
| Joel Embiid | 451 | |||
| Penny Hardaway | 683 | +232 | ||
0 Point Games (games without points) | ||||
| Joel Embiid | 1 | |||
| Penny Hardaway | 21 | +20 | ||
Playoffs
50+ Point Games | ||||
| Joel Embiid | 1 | +1 | ||
| Penny Hardaway | 0 | |||
20+ Point Games | ||||
| Joel Embiid | 42 | +16 | ||
| Penny Hardaway | 26 | |||
10+ Point Games | ||||
| Joel Embiid | 58 | |||
| Penny Hardaway | 62 | +4 | ||
1+ Point Games (games with points) | ||||
| Joel Embiid | 59 | |||
| Penny Hardaway | 64 | +5 | ||
0 Point Games (games without points) | ||||
| Joel Embiid | 0 | |||
| Penny Hardaway | 0 | |||
Career Shooting Stats Comparison
Regular Season
Stats Per Game
| Pts | FGM / A | % | 3PM / A | % | FTM / A | % | Yrs | Gms | ||||
| Joel Embiid | 27.7 | 9.1 | 18.2 | 50.1 | 1.2 | 3.5 | 33.9 | 8.3 | 10.0 | 82.8 | 9 | 452 |
| difference: | +12.5 | +3.4 | +5.8 | +4.4 | +0.5 | +1.2 | +2.3 | +5.2 | +6.0 | +5.4 | +5 | +252 |
| Penny Hardaway | 15.2 | 5.7 | 12.4 | 45.8 | 0.7 | 2.3 | 31.6 | 3.1 | 4.0 | 77.4 | 14 | 704 |
Total Stats
| Pts | FGM / A | % | 3PM / A | % | FTM / A | % | Yrs | Gms | ||||
| Joel Embiid | 12,523 | 4,117 | 8,212 | 50.1 | 532 | 1,568 | 33.9 | 3,757 | 4,538 | 82.8 | 9 | 452 |
| difference: | +1,839 | +122 | +519 | +4.4 | +29 | +23 | +2.3 | +1,566 | +1,707 | +5.4 | +5 | +252 |
| Penny Hardaway | 10,684 | 3,995 | 8,731 | 45.8 | 503 | 1,591 | 31.6 | 2,191 | 2,831 | 77.4 | 14 | 704 |
Playoffs
Stats Per Game
| Pts | FGM / A | % | 3PM / A | % | FTM / A | % | Yrs | Gms | ||||
| Joel Embiid | 24.9 | 7.9 | 17.2 | 45.9 | 1.1 | 3.8 | 28.9 | 8.0 | 9.7 | 82.8 | 7 | 59 |
| difference: | +4.5 | +0.8 | +1.3 | +1.1 | +0.5 | +0.4 | +9.1 | +3.5 | +3.6 | +8.2 | +1 | +5 |
| Penny Hardaway | 20.4 | 7.1 | 15.9 | 44.8 | 1.6 | 4.2 | 38.0 | 4.5 | 6.1 | 74.6 | 8 | 64 |
Total Stats
| Pts | FGM / A | % | 3PM / A | % | FTM / A | % | Yrs | Gms | ||||
| Joel Embiid | 1,469 | 466 | 1,015 | 45.9 | 65 | 225 | 28.9 | 472 | 570 | 82.8 | 7 | 59 |
| difference: | +165 | +10 | +3 | +1.1 | +36 | +41 | +9.1 | +181 | +180 | +8.2 | +1 | +5 |
| Penny Hardaway | 1,304 | 456 | 1,018 | 44.8 | 101 | 266 | 38.0 | 291 | 390 | 74.6 | 8 | 64 |
Year by Year Points Average Comparison
= NBA Scoring LeaderRegular Season
Penny Hardaway's additional seasons: | ||||
* Penny Hardaway played 5 seasons more than Joel Embiid in the NBA. In those years—his seasons 10 to 14, from 2003 to 2008—he averaged 8.7 points in a total of 191 regular season games. During that period, his highest average was 10.6 ppg and his lowest 2.5. |
Playoffs
Rookie Season | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Joel Embiid | - | DNP | 2017 | 0 |
| Penny Hardaway | 18.7 | +18.7 | 1994 | 3 |
Season 5 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Joel Embiid | 28.1 | +28.1 | 2021 | 11 |
| Penny Hardaway | - | DNP | 1998 | 0 |
Season 8 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Joel Embiid | 33.0 | +33.0 | 2024 | 6 |
| Penny Hardaway | - | DNP | 2001 | 0 |
Season 9 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Joel Embiid | - | DNP | 2025 | 0 |
| Penny Hardaway | - | DNP | 2002 | 0 |
Penny Hardaway's additional Playoffs: | ||||
* During his 5 additional NBA seasons, Penny Hardaway played in two Playoffs. In those postseasons he averaged 14.2 points in a total of 10 games. His highest playoff average during that period was 16.5 ppg and his lowest 12.7. |