Tim Duncan vs. Penny Hardaway: Career Scoring Comparison

We break down the scoring legacies of Penny Hardaway and Tim Duncan 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.

Tim Duncan is among the NBA's all-time leaders in points 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 Tim Duncan 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.

Career Numbers
Who has the better scoring stats?

Points in the Regular Season

In his 19 NBA regular seasons played, Tim Duncan averages 3.8 points more than Penny Hardaway in his 14 seasons (19.0 points against 15.2), and he also scored a total of 15,812 points more (26,496 vs. 10,684).

Points Per Game

Seasons
Tim Duncan 19.0
+3.8
19
Penny Hardaway 15.2
14

Total Points

Seasons
Tim Duncan 26,496
+15,812
19
Penny Hardaway 10,684
14

Points in the Playoffs

Similar to what happens in the regular season, in the NBA postseason Tim Duncan has a better career point average than Penny Hardaway (+0.2 points per game) and he also scored more points (+3,868).

Points Per Game

Playoffs
Tim Duncan 20.6
+0.2
18
Penny Hardaway 20.4
8

Total Points

Playoffs
Tim Duncan 5,172
+3,868
18
Penny Hardaway 1,304
8

Points by Thresholds

Regular Season

50+ Point Games

Tim Duncan 1
+1
Penny Hardaway 0

40+ Point Games

Tim Duncan 5
+4
Penny Hardaway 1

30+ Point Games

Tim Duncan 122
+81
Penny Hardaway 41

20+ Point Games

Tim Duncan 639
+424
Penny Hardaway 215

10+ Point Games

Tim Duncan 1,256
+754
Penny Hardaway 502

1+ Point Games (games with points)

Tim Duncan 1,390
+707
Penny Hardaway 683

0 Point Games (games without points)

Tim Duncan 2
Penny Hardaway 21
+19

Playoffs

40+ Point Games

Tim Duncan 4
+2
Penny Hardaway 2

30+ Point Games

Tim Duncan 36
+28
Penny Hardaway 8

20+ Point Games

Tim Duncan 137
+111
Penny Hardaway 26

10+ Point Games

Tim Duncan 232
+170
Penny Hardaway 62

1+ Point Games (games with points)

Tim Duncan 250
+186
Penny Hardaway 64

0 Point Games (games without points)

Tim Duncan 1
+1
Penny Hardaway 0

Career Shooting Stats Comparison

more >>

Regular Season

Stats Per Game

Pts FGM / A% 3PM / A% FTM / A% Yrs Gms
Tim Duncan 19.0 7.4 14.6 50.6 0.0 0.1 17.9 4.2 6.1 69.6 19 1,392
difference:+3.8+1.7+2.2+4.8+0.7+2.2+13.7+1.1+2.1+7.8+5+688
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
Tim Duncan 26,496 10,285 20,334 50.6 30 168 17.9 5,896 8,468 69.6 19 1,392
difference:+15,812+6,290+11,603+4.8+473+1,423+13.7+3,705+5,637+7.8+5+688
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
Tim Duncan 20.6 7.9 15.7 50.1 0.0 0.1 14.3 4.8 7.0 68.9 18 251
difference:+0.2+0.8+0.2+5.3+1.6+4.1+23.7+0.3+0.9+5.7+10+187
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
Tim Duncan 5,172 1,975 3,939 50.1 5 35 14.3 1,217 1,766 68.9 18 251
difference:+3,868+1,519+2,921+5.3+96+231+23.7+926+1,376+5.7+10+187
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 Champion = NBA Champion

Regular Season

Rookie Season

Points per gameYearGames
Tim Duncan 21.1
+5.1
199882
Penny Hardaway 16.0
199482

Season 2

Points per gameYearGames
Tim Duncan 21.7
+0.8
1999NBA Champion50
Penny Hardaway 20.9
199577

Season 3

Points per gameYearGames
Tim Duncan 23.2
+1.5
200074
Penny Hardaway 21.7
199682

Season 4

Points per gameYearGames
Tim Duncan 22.2
+1.7
200182
Penny Hardaway 20.5
199759

Season 5

Points per gameYearGames
Tim Duncan 25.5
+9.1
200282
Penny Hardaway 16.4
199819

Season 6

Points per gameYearGames
Tim Duncan 23.3
+7.5
2003NBA Champion81
Penny Hardaway 15.8
199950

Season 7

Points per gameYearGames
Tim Duncan 22.3
+5.4
200469
Penny Hardaway 16.9
200060

Season 8

Points per gameYearGames
Tim Duncan 20.3
+10.5
2005NBA Champion66
Penny Hardaway 9.8
20014

Season 9

Points per gameYearGames
Tim Duncan 18.6
+6.6
200680
Penny Hardaway 12.0
200280

Season 10

Points per gameYearGames
Tim Duncan 20.0
+9.4
2007NBA Champion80
Penny Hardaway 10.6
200358

Season 11

Points per gameYearGames
Tim Duncan 19.3
+10.1
200878
Penny Hardaway 9.2
200476

Season 12

Points per gameYearGames
Tim Duncan 19.3
+12.0
200975
Penny Hardaway 7.3
200537

Season 13

Points per gameYearGames
Tim Duncan 17.9
+15.4
201078
Penny Hardaway 2.5
20064

Season 14

Points per gameYearGames
Tim Duncan 13.4
+9.6
201176
Penny Hardaway 3.8
200816

Tim Duncan's additional seasons:

* Tim Duncan played 5 seasons more than Penny Hardaway in the NBA.

In those years—his seasons 15 to 19, from 2012 to 2016—he averaged 14.3 points in a total of 339 regular season games. During that period, his highest average was 17.8 ppg and his lowest 8.6.

Playoffs

Rookie Season

Points per gameYearGames
Tim Duncan 20.7
+2.0
19989
Penny Hardaway 18.7
19943

Season 2

Points per gameYearGames
Tim Duncan 23.2
+3.6
1999NBA Champion17
Penny Hardaway 19.6
199521

Season 3

Points per gameYearGames
Tim Duncan -
DNP
20000
Penny Hardaway 23.3
+23.3
199612

Season 4

Points per gameYearGames
Tim Duncan 24.4
200113
Penny Hardaway 31.0
+6.6
19975

Season 5

Points per gameYearGames
Tim Duncan 27.6
+27.6
20029
Penny Hardaway -
DNP
19980

Season 6

Points per gameYearGames
Tim Duncan 24.7
+5.7
2003NBA Champion24
Penny Hardaway 19.0
19994

Season 7

Points per gameYearGames
Tim Duncan 22.1
+1.8
200410
Penny Hardaway 20.3
20009

Season 8

Points per gameYearGames
Tim Duncan 23.6
+23.6
2005NBA Champion23
Penny Hardaway -
DNP
20010

Season 9

Points per gameYearGames
Tim Duncan 25.8
+25.8
200613
Penny Hardaway -
DNP
20020

Season 10

Points per gameYearGames
Tim Duncan 22.2
+9.5
2007NBA Champion20
Penny Hardaway 12.7
20036

Season 11

Points per gameYearGames
Tim Duncan 20.2
+3.7
200817
Penny Hardaway 16.5
20044

Season 12

Points per gameYearGames
Tim Duncan 19.8
+19.8
20095
Penny Hardaway -
DNP
20050

Season 13

Points per gameYearGames
Tim Duncan 19.0
+19.0
201010
Penny Hardaway -
DNP
20060

Season 14

Points per gameYearGames
Tim Duncan 12.7
+12.7
20116
Penny Hardaway -
DNP
20080

Tim Duncan's additional Playoffs:

* During his 5 additional NBA seasons, Tim Duncan played in 5 Playoffs and won one NBA Championship. In those postseasons he averaged 15.8 points in a total of 75 games. His highest playoff average during that period was 18.1 ppg and his lowest 5.9.