Penny Hardaway vs. LeBron James: Career Scoring Comparison

We break down the scoring legacies of LeBron James and Penny Hardaway 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 / Games against each other

LeBron James 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 LeBron James 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 22 NBA regular seasons played, LeBron James averages 11.8 points more than Penny Hardaway in his 14 seasons (27.0 points against 15.2), and he also scored a total of 31,500 points more (42,184 vs. 10,684).

Points Per Game

Seasons
Penny Hardaway 15.2
14
LeBron James 27.0
+11.8
22

Total Points

Seasons
Penny Hardaway 10,684
14
LeBron James 42,184
+31,500
22

Scoring Titles

Penny Hardaway 0
LeBron James 1
Scoring leader
+1

Points in the Playoffs

Similar to what happens in the regular season, in the NBA postseason LeBron James has a better career point average than Penny Hardaway (+8 points per game) and he also scored more points (+6,985).

Points Per Game

Playoffs
Penny Hardaway 20.4
8
LeBron James 28.4
+8.0
18

Total Points

Playoffs
Penny Hardaway 1,304
8
LeBron James 8,289
+6,985
18

Points by Thresholds

Regular Season

60+ Point Games

Penny Hardaway 0
LeBron James 1
+1

50+ Point Games

Penny Hardaway 0
LeBron James 14
+14

40+ Point Games

Penny Hardaway 1
LeBron James 79
+78

30+ Point Games

Penny Hardaway 41
LeBron James 571
+530

20+ Point Games

Penny Hardaway 215
LeBron James 1,286
+1071

10+ Point Games

Penny Hardaway 502
LeBron James 1,554
+1052

1+ Point Games (games with points)

Penny Hardaway 683
LeBron James 1,562
+879

0 Point Games (games without points)

Penny Hardaway 21
+21
LeBron James 0

Playoffs

50+ Point Games

Penny Hardaway 0
LeBron James 1
+1

40+ Point Games

Penny Hardaway 2
LeBron James 29
+27

30+ Point Games

Penny Hardaway 8
LeBron James 123
+115

20+ Point Games

Penny Hardaway 26
LeBron James 261
+235

10+ Point Games

Penny Hardaway 62
LeBron James 290
+228

1+ Point Games (games with points)

Penny Hardaway 64
LeBron James 292
+228

0 Point Games (games without points)

Penny Hardaway 0
LeBron James 0

Career Shooting Stats Comparison

more >>

Regular Season

Stats Per Game

Pts FGM / A% 3PM / A% FTM / A% Yrs Gms
Penny Hardaway 15.2 5.7 12.4 45.8 0.7 2.3 31.6 3.1 4.0 77.4 14 704
difference:+11.8+4.2+7.2+4.9+0.9+2.4+3.3+2.4+3.5+3.7+8+858
LeBron James 27.0 9.9 19.6 50.6 1.6 4.7 34.9 5.5 7.5 73.7 22 1,562

Total Stats

Pts FGM / A% 3PM / A% FTM / A% Yrs Gms
Penny Hardaway 10,684 3,995 8,731 45.8 503 1,591 31.6 2,191 2,831 77.4 14 704
difference:+31,500+11,493+21,852+4.9+2,056+5,731+3.3+6,458+8,904+3.7+8+858
LeBron James 42,184 15,488 30,583 50.6 2,559 7,322 34.9 8,649 11,735 73.7 22 1,562

Playoffs

Stats Per Game

Pts FGM / A% 3PM / A% FTM / A% Yrs Gms
Penny Hardaway 20.4 7.1 15.9 44.8 1.6 4.2 38.0 4.5 6.1 74.6 8 64
difference:+8.0+3.1+4.6+4.9+0.7+4.7+1.9+2.5+0.5+10+228
LeBron James 28.4 10.2 20.5 49.6 1.6 4.9 33.3 6.4 8.6 74.1 18 292

Total Stats

Pts FGM / A% 3PM / A% FTM / A% Yrs Gms
Penny Hardaway 1,304 456 1,018 44.8 101 266 38.0 291 390 74.6 8 64
difference:+6,985+2,515+4,966+4.9+379+1,177+4.7+1,576+2,129+0.5+10+228
LeBron James 8,289 2,971 5,984 49.6 480 1,443 33.3 1,867 2,519 74.1 18 292

Year by Year Points Average Comparison

Scoring leader= NBA Scoring Leader
NBA Champion = NBA Champion

Regular Season

Rookie Season

Points per gameYearGames
Penny Hardaway 16.0
199482
LeBron James 20.9
+4.9
200479

Season 2

Points per gameYearGames
Penny Hardaway 20.9
199577
LeBron James 27.2
+6.3
200580

Season 3

Points per gameYearGames
Penny Hardaway 21.7
199682
LeBron James 31.4
+9.7
200679

Season 4

Points per gameYearGames
Penny Hardaway 20.5
199759
LeBron James 27.3
+6.8
200778

Season 5

Points per gameYearGames
Penny Hardaway 16.4
199819
LeBron James Scoring leader30.0
+13.6
200875

Season 6

Points per gameYearGames
Penny Hardaway 15.8
199950
LeBron James 28.4
+12.6
200981

Season 7

Points per gameYearGames
Penny Hardaway 16.9
200060
LeBron James 29.7
+12.8
201076

Season 8

Points per gameYearGames
Penny Hardaway 9.8
20014
LeBron James 26.7
+16.9
201179

Season 9

Points per gameYearGames
Penny Hardaway 12.0
200280
LeBron James 27.1
+15.1
2012NBA Champion62

Season 10

Points per gameYearGames
Penny Hardaway 10.6
200358
LeBron James 26.8
+16.2
2013NBA Champion76

Season 11

Points per gameYearGames
Penny Hardaway 9.2
200476
LeBron James 27.1
+17.9
201477

Season 12

Points per gameYearGames
Penny Hardaway 9.2
200476
LeBron James 25.3
+16.1
201569

Season 13

Points per gameYearGames
Penny Hardaway 9.2
200476
LeBron James 25.3
+16.1
2016NBA Champion76

Season 14

Points per gameYearGames
Penny Hardaway 7.3
200537
LeBron James 26.4
+19.1
201774

Season 15

Points per gameYearGames
Penny Hardaway 2.5
20064
LeBron James 27.5
+25.0
201882

Season 16

Points per gameYearGames
Penny Hardaway 3.8
200816
LeBron James 27.4
+23.6
201955

LeBron James' additional seasons:

* LeBron James played 6 seasons more than Penny Hardaway in the NBA.

In those years—his seasons 17 to 22, from 2020 to 2025—he averaged 26.5 points in a total of 364 regular season games. During that period, his highest average was 30.3 ppg and his lowest 24.4.

Playoffs

Rookie Season

Points per gameYearGames
Penny Hardaway 18.7
+18.7
19943
LeBron James -
DNP
20040

Season 2

Points per gameYearGames
Penny Hardaway 19.6
+19.6
199521
LeBron James -
DNP
20050

Season 3

Points per gameYearGames
Penny Hardaway 23.3
199612
LeBron James 30.8
+7.5
200613

Season 4

Points per gameYearGames
Penny Hardaway 31.0
+5.9
19975
LeBron James 25.1
200720

Season 5

Points per gameYearGames
Penny Hardaway -
DNP
19980
LeBron James 28.2
+28.2
200813

Season 6

Points per gameYearGames
Penny Hardaway 19.0
19994
LeBron James 35.3
+16.3
200914

Season 7

Points per gameYearGames
Penny Hardaway 20.3
20009
LeBron James 29.1
+8.8
201011

Season 8

Points per gameYearGames
Penny Hardaway -
DNP
20010
LeBron James 23.7
+23.7
201121

Season 9

Points per gameYearGames
Penny Hardaway -
DNP
20020
LeBron James 30.3
+30.3
2012NBA Champion23

Season 10

Points per gameYearGames
Penny Hardaway 12.7
20036
LeBron James 25.9
+13.2
2013NBA Champion23

Season 11

Points per gameYearGames
Penny Hardaway 16.5
20044
LeBron James 27.4
+10.9
201420

Season 12

Points per gameYearGames
Penny Hardaway 16.5
20044
LeBron James 30.1
+13.6
201520

Season 13

Points per gameYearGames
Penny Hardaway 16.5
20044
LeBron James 26.3
+9.8
2016NBA Champion21

Season 14

Points per gameYearGames
Penny Hardaway -
DNP
20050
LeBron James 32.8
+32.8
201718

Season 15

Points per gameYearGames
Penny Hardaway -
DNP
20060
LeBron James 34.0
+34.0
201822

Season 16

Points per gameYearGames
Penny Hardaway -
DNP
20080
LeBron James -
DNP
20190

LeBron James' additional Playoffs:

* During his 6 additional NBA seasons, LeBron James played in 5 Playoffs and won one NBA Championship. In those postseasons he averaged 26.0 points in a total of 53 games. His highest playoff average during that period was 27.8 ppg and his lowest 23.3.

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