Kareem Abdul-Jabbar vs. Penny Hardaway: Career Scoring Comparison

We break down the scoring legacies of Penny Hardaway and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 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.

Player comparisons:
Career comparison / Season by season / Scoring / Stats / Stats Rankings

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is among the NBA's all-time leaders in points and also has one of the highest career averages in league 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 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 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:

Who has better scoring stats? Career Numbers
Games of 30+ points, 40+, 50+, etc
Shooting Stats
Points Year by Year

Career Numbers
Who has the better scoring stats?

Points in the Regular Season

In his 20 NBA regular seasons played, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar averages 9.4 points more than Penny Hardaway in his 14 seasons (24.6 points against 15.2), and he also scored a total of 27,703 points more (38,387 vs. 10,684).

Points Per Game

Seasons
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 24.6
+9.4
20
Penny Hardaway 15.2
14

Total Points

Seasons
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 38,387
+27,703
20
Penny Hardaway 10,684
14

Scoring Titles

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 2
Scoring leaderScoring leader
+2
Penny Hardaway 0

Points in the Playoffs

Similar to what happens in the regular season, in the NBA postseason Kareem Abdul-Jabbar has a better career point average than Penny Hardaway (+3.9 points per game) and he also scored more points (+4,458).

Points Per Game

Playoffs
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 24.3
+3.9
18
Penny Hardaway 20.4
8

Total Points

Playoffs
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 5,762
+4,458
18
Penny Hardaway 1,304
8

Points by Thresholds

Regular Season

50+ Point Games

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 10
+10
Penny Hardaway 0

40+ Point Games

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 70
+69
Penny Hardaway 1

30+ Point Games

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 429
+388
Penny Hardaway 41

20+ Point Games

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 1,122
+907
Penny Hardaway 215

10+ Point Games

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 1,509
+1007
Penny Hardaway 502

1+ Point Games (games with points)

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 1,559
+876
Penny Hardaway 683

0 Point Games (games without points)

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 1
Penny Hardaway 21
+20

Playoffs

40+ Point Games

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 9
+7
Penny Hardaway 2

30+ Point Games

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 75
+67
Penny Hardaway 8

20+ Point Games

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 169
+143
Penny Hardaway 26

10+ Point Games

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 223
+161
Penny Hardaway 62

1+ Point Games (games with points)

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 237
+173
Penny Hardaway 64

0 Point Games (games without points)

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 0
Penny Hardaway 0

Career Shooting Stats Comparison

more >>

Regular Season

Stats Per Game

Pts FGM / A% 3PM / A% FTM / A% Yrs Gms
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 24.6 10.2 18.1 55.9 * 0.0 * 0.0 * 5.6 4.3 6.0 72.1 20 1,560
difference:+9.4+4.5+5.7+10.2+0.7+2.3+26.0+1.2+2.0+5.3+6+856
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
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 38,387 15,837 28,307 55.9 * 1 * 18 * 5.6 6,712 9,304 72.1 20 1,560
difference:+27,703+11,842+19,576+10.2+502+1,573+26.0+4,521+6,473+5.3+6+856
Penny Hardaway 10,684 3,995 8,731 45.8 503 1,591 31.6 2,191 2,831 77.4 14 704

Notes: Three-point shots were implemented in 1979-80.
* = some years in his career didn't have the stat.

Playoffs

Stats Per Game

Pts FGM / A% 3PM / A% FTM / A% Yrs Gms
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 24.3 9.9 18.7 53.3 * 0.0 * 0.0 * 0.0 4.4 6.0 74.0 18 237
difference:+3.9+2.8+2.8+8.5+1.6+4.2+38.0+0.1+0.1+0.6+10+173
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
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 5,762 2,356 4,422 53.3 * 0 * 4 * 0.0 1,050 1,419 74.0 18 237
difference:+4,458+1,900+3,404+8.5+101+262+38.0+759+1,029+0.6+10+173
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

Scoring leader= NBA Scoring Leader
NBA Champion = NBA Champion

Regular Season

Rookie Season

Points per gameYearGames
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 28.8
+12.8
197082
Penny Hardaway 16.0
199482

Season 2

Points per gameYearGames
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Scoring leader31.7
+10.8
1971NBA Champion82
Penny Hardaway 20.9
199577

Season 3

Points per gameYearGames
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Scoring leader34.8
+13.1
197281
Penny Hardaway 21.7
199682

Season 4

Points per gameYearGames
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 30.2
+9.7
197376
Penny Hardaway 20.5
199759

Season 5

Points per gameYearGames
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 27.0
+10.6
197481
Penny Hardaway 16.4
199819

Season 6

Points per gameYearGames
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 30.0
+14.2
197565
Penny Hardaway 15.8
199950

Season 7

Points per gameYearGames
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 27.7
+10.8
197682
Penny Hardaway 16.9
200060

Season 8

Points per gameYearGames
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 26.2
+16.4
197782
Penny Hardaway 9.8
20014

Season 9

Points per gameYearGames
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 25.8
+13.8
197862
Penny Hardaway 12.0
200280

Season 10

Points per gameYearGames
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 23.8
+13.2
197980
Penny Hardaway 10.6
200358

Season 11

Points per gameYearGames
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 24.8
+15.6
1980NBA Champion82
Penny Hardaway 9.2
200476

Season 12

Points per gameYearGames
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 26.2
+18.9
198180
Penny Hardaway 7.3
200537

Season 13

Points per gameYearGames
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 23.9
+21.4
1982NBA Champion76
Penny Hardaway 2.5
20064

Season 14

Points per gameYearGames
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 21.8
+18.0
198379
Penny Hardaway 3.8
200816

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's additional seasons:

* Kareem Abdul-Jabbar played 6 seasons more than Penny Hardaway in the NBA.

In those years—his seasons 15 to 20, from 1984 to 1989—he averaged 18.2 points in a total of 470 regular season games. During that period, his highest average was 23.4 ppg and his lowest 10.1.

Playoffs

Rookie Season

Points per gameYearGames
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 35.2
+16.5
197010
Penny Hardaway 18.7
19943

Season 2

Points per gameYearGames
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 26.6
+7.0
1971NBA Champion14
Penny Hardaway 19.6
199521

Season 3

Points per gameYearGames
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 28.7
+5.4
197211
Penny Hardaway 23.3
199612

Season 4

Points per gameYearGames
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 22.8
19736
Penny Hardaway 31.0
+8.2
19975

Season 5

Points per gameYearGames
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 32.2
+32.2
197416
Penny Hardaway -
DNP
19980

Season 6

Points per gameYearGames
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar -
DNP
19750
Penny Hardaway 19.0
+19.0
19994

Season 7

Points per gameYearGames
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar -
DNP
19760
Penny Hardaway 20.3
+20.3
20009

Season 8

Points per gameYearGames
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 34.6
+34.6
197711
Penny Hardaway -
DNP
20010

Season 9

Points per gameYearGames
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 27.0
+27.0
19783
Penny Hardaway -
DNP
20020

Season 10

Points per gameYearGames
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 28.5
+15.8
19798
Penny Hardaway 12.7
20036

Season 11

Points per gameYearGames
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 31.9
+15.4
1980NBA Champion15
Penny Hardaway 16.5
20044

Season 12

Points per gameYearGames
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 26.7
+26.7
19813
Penny Hardaway -
DNP
20050

Season 13

Points per gameYearGames
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 20.4
+20.4
1982NBA Champion14
Penny Hardaway -
DNP
20060

Season 14

Points per gameYearGames
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 27.1
+27.1
198315
Penny Hardaway -
DNP
20080

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's additional Playoffs:

* During his 6 additional NBA seasons, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar played in 6 Playoffs and won 3 NBA Championships. In those postseasons he averaged 19.2 points in a total of 111 games. His highest playoff average during that period was 25.9 ppg and his lowest 11.1.

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