Gary Payton vs. Trae Young Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Trae Young and Gary Payton, 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.

Gary Payton played 17 years in the NBA, 9 more than Trae Young, who played 8. Gary Payton had the first of his seasons in 1990-91, while Trae Young had his rookie season in 2018-19. 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 achievements, awards and championships won, the stats they recorded both in the Regular Season and the Playoffs and how their teams performed in the postseason.

Rookie Season
	Gary Payton	Trae Young
Season	1990-91	2018-19
Team	Seattle Supersonics	Atlanta Hawks
Honors & Awards	-	All-Rookie First Team
	All-Rookie Second Team	-
Playoffs	Supersonics Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Did Not Play

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Rookie Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Gary Payton	82	27.4	7.2	1.3	1.6	3.0	6.4	2.0	0.2	2.2	3.0	3.2	7.0	.450	0.0	0.2	.077	0.8	1.2	.711
difference:	+1	+3.5	+11.9	+0.5	+1.3	+0.7	+1.7	+1.1		-1.6	-1.3	+3.3	+8.5	+.032	+1.9	+5.8	+.247	+3.4	+3.9	+.118
Trae Young	81	30.9	19.1	0.8	2.9	3.7	8.1	0.9	0.2	3.8	1.7	6.5	15.5	.418	1.9	6.0	.324	4.2	5.1	.829
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Gary Payton	5	27.0	4.8	1.0	1.6	2.6	6.4	1.6	0.2	1.8	3.2	2.2	5.4	.407	0.0	0.2	.000	0.4	0.4	1.000
Trae Young	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 2
	Gary Payton	Trae Young
Season	1991-92	2019-20
Team	Seattle Supersonics	Atlanta Hawks
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Supersonics Lost West Conf Semis	Did Not Play

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2nd Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Gary Payton	81	31.5	9.4	1.5	2.1	3.6	6.2	1.8	0.3	2.1	3.1	4.1	9.1	.451	0.0	0.3	.130	1.2	1.8	.669
difference:	+21	+3.8	+20.2	+1.0	+1.6	+0.7	+3.1	+0.7	+0.2	-2.7	-1.4	+5.0	+11.7	+.014	+3.4	+9.2	+.231	+6.8	+7.5	+.191
Trae Young	60	35.3	29.6	0.5	3.7	4.3	9.3	1.1	0.1	4.8	1.7	9.1	20.8	.437	3.4	9.5	.361	8.0	9.3	.860
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Gary Payton	8	27.6	7.6	0.8	1.9	2.6	4.8	1.0	0.3	1.3	3.3	3.4	7.3	.466	0.0	0.3	.000	0.9	1.5	.583
Trae Young	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 4
	Gary Payton	Trae Young
Season	1993-94	2021-22
Team	Seattle Supersonics	Atlanta Hawks
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Third Team	All-NBA Third Team
	All-Defensive First Team	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Supersonics Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Hawks Lost East Conf 1st Rd

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4th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Gary Payton	82	35.1	16.5	1.3	2.0	3.3	6.0	2.3	0.2	2.1	2.8	7.1	14.1	.504	0.2	0.7	.278	2.0	3.4	.595
difference:	+6	+0.2	+11.9	+0.6	+1.1	+0.4	+3.7	+1.4	+0.1	-1.9	-1.1	+2.3	+6.2	+.044	+2.9	+7.3	+.104	+4.6	+3.9	+.309
Trae Young	76	34.9	28.4	0.7	3.1	3.7	9.7	0.9	0.1	4.0	1.7	9.4	20.3	.460	3.1	8.0	.382	6.6	7.3	.904
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Gary Payton	5	36.2	15.8	1.2	2.2	3.4	5.6	1.6	0.4	1.6	3.0	6.8	13.8	.493	0.6	1.8	.333	1.6	3.8	.421
difference:		+1.0	+0.4	+0.2	+1.8	+1.6	+0.4	+1.0	+0.4	-4.6	-0.4	+2.4		+.174	+0.8	+5.8	+.149	+3.6	+2.8	+.367
Trae Young	5	37.2	15.4	1.0	4.0	5.0	6.0	0.6	0.0	6.2	2.6	4.4	13.8	.319	1.4	7.6	.184	5.2	6.6	.788

Season 5
	Gary Payton	Trae Young
Season	1994-95	2022-23
Team	Seattle Supersonics	Atlanta Hawks
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
	All-Defensive First Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Supersonics Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Hawks Lost East Conf 1st Rd

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5th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Gary Payton	82	36.8	20.6	1.3	2.1	3.4	7.1	2.5	0.2	2.5	2.5	8.4	16.4	.509	0.9	2.8	.302	3.0	4.2	.716
difference:	+9	+2.0	+5.6	+0.5	+0.1	+0.4	+3.1	+1.4	+0.1	-1.6	-1.1	+0.2	+2.6	+.080	+1.2	+3.5	+.033	+4.8	+4.6	+.170
Trae Young	73	34.8	26.2	0.8	2.2	3.0	10.2	1.1	0.1	4.1	1.4	8.2	19.0	.429	2.1	6.3	.335	7.8	8.8	.886
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Gary Payton	4	43.0	17.8	1.5	1.0	2.5	5.3	1.3	0.0	2.0	3.3	8.0	16.8	.478	0.5	2.5	.200	1.3	3.0	.417
difference:	+2	+4.7	+11.4	+0.7	+1.8	+1.2	+4.9	+0.4	+0.7	-2.0	-1.5	+2.0	+8.0	+.075	+2.5	+6.5	+.133	+4.9	+4.2	+.443
Trae Young	6	38.3	29.2	0.8	2.8	3.7	10.2	1.7	0.7	4.0	1.8	10.0	24.8	.403	3.0	9.0	.333	6.2	7.2	.860

Season 6
	Gary Payton	Trae Young
Season	1995-96	2023-24
Team	Seattle Supersonics	Atlanta Hawks
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
	All-Defensive First Team	-
	Defensive Player of the Year	-
	Steals Leader	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Supersonics Lost NBA Finals	Did Not Play

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6th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Gary Payton	81	39.0	19.3	1.3	2.9	4.2	7.5	2.9	0.2	3.2	2.7	7.6	15.8	.484	1.2	3.7	.328	2.8	3.8	.748
difference:	+27	+3.0	+6.4	+0.9	+0.6	+1.4	+3.3	+1.6		-1.2	-0.7	+0.4	+2.9	+.054	+2.0	+5.0	+.045	+3.6	+3.7	+.107
Trae Young	54	36.0	25.7	0.4	2.3	2.8	10.8	1.3	0.2	4.4	2.0	8.0	18.7	.430	3.2	8.7	.373	6.4	7.5	.855
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Gary Payton	21	43.4	20.7	0.9	4.2	5.1	6.8	1.8	0.3	3.0	3.3	7.7	15.9	.485	2.0	4.8	.410	3.3	5.2	.633
Trae Young	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 7
	Gary Payton	Trae Young
Season	1996-97	2024-25
Team	Seattle Supersonics	Atlanta Hawks
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
	All-Defensive First Team	-
	-	Assists Leader
	-	Cup All-Tournament Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Supersonics Lost West Conf Semis	Did Not Play

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7th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Gary Payton	82	39.2	21.8	1.3	3.3	4.6	7.1	2.4	0.2	2.6	2.5	8.6	18.1	.476	1.5	4.6	.313	3.1	4.3	.715
difference:	+6	+3.2	+2.4	+0.8	+0.7	+1.5	+4.5	+1.2		-2.1	-0.6	+1.2		+.065	+1.4	+3.8	+.027	+3.4	+3.1	+.160
Trae Young	76	36.0	24.2	0.5	2.6	3.1	11.6	1.2	0.2	4.7	1.9	7.4	18.1	.411	2.9	8.4	.340	6.5	7.4	.875
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Gary Payton	12	45.6	23.8	1.7	3.8	5.4	8.7	2.2	0.3	2.9	2.2	8.8	21.3	.412	2.1	6.3	.333	4.2	5.1	.820
Trae Young	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 8
	Gary Payton	Trae Young
Season	1997-98	2025-26
Team	Seattle Supersonics	Atlanta Hawks
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Defensive First Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Supersonics Lost West Conf Semis	Did Not Play

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8th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Gary Payton	82	38.4	19.2	0.9	3.6	4.6	8.3	2.3	0.2	2.8	2.4	7.1	15.6	.453	1.6	4.8	.338	3.4	4.6	.744
difference:	+77	+10.6	+1.4	+0.9	+1.6	+2.6	+0.5	+1.5		-0.8	-0.6	+1.9	+1.6	+.082	+0.6	+0.4	+.146	+3.0	+3.2	+.077
Trae Young	5	27.8	17.8	0.0	2.0	2.0	7.8	0.8	0.2	2.0	1.8	5.2	14.0	.371	1.0	5.2	.192	6.4	7.8	.821
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Gary Payton	10	42.7	24.0	0.9	2.5	3.4	7.0	1.8	0.1	2.6	3.1	8.7	18.3	.475	1.9	5.0	.380	4.7	5.0	.940
Trae Young	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Additional Years
* Gary Payton played 9 seasons more than Trae Young in the NBA. In that period—his seasons 9 to 17, from 1999 to 2007—Gary Payton played in 7 Playoffs and won one NBA Championship. In those 9 extra years over Trae Young, Gary Payton got these achievements:
Honors & Awards	1 All-NBA First Team 2 All-NBA Second Team 1 All-NBA Third Team 4 All-Defensive First Team 4 All-Star Game