Jalen Brunson vs. Gary Payton Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Gary Payton and Jalen Brunson, 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.

Jalen Brunson played 7 years in the NBA, 10 less than Gary Payton, who played 17. Jalen Brunson had the first of his seasons in 2018-19, while Gary Payton had his rookie season in 1990-91. 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
	Jalen Brunson	Gary Payton
Season	2018-19	1990-91
Team	Dallas Mavericks	Seattle Supersonics
Honors & Awards	-	All-Rookie Second Team
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Supersonics Lost West Conf 1st Rd

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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		%
Jalen Brunson	73	21.8	9.3	0.3	2.0	2.3	3.2	0.5	0.1	1.2	1.7	3.6	7.7	.467	0.9	2.5	.348	1.2	1.6	.725
difference:	+9	+5.6	+2.1	+1.0	+0.4	+0.7	+3.2	+1.5	+0.1	-1.0	-1.3	+0.4	+0.7	+.017	+0.9	+2.3	+.271	+0.4	+0.4	+.014
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
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Jalen Brunson	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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

Season 4
	Jalen Brunson	Gary Payton
Season	2021-22	1993-94
Team	Dallas Mavericks	Seattle Supersonics
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Third Team
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Mavericks Lost West Conf Finals	Supersonics Lost West 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		%
Jalen Brunson	79	31.9	16.3	0.5	3.4	3.9	4.8	0.8	0.0	1.6	1.9	6.4	12.8	.502	1.2	3.2	.373	2.3	2.7	.840
difference:	+3	+3.2	+0.2	+0.8	+1.4	+0.6	+1.2	+1.5	+0.2	-0.5	-0.9	+0.7	+1.3	+.002	+1.0	+2.5	+.095	+0.3	+0.7	+.245
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
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Jalen Brunson	18	34.9	21.6	0.8	3.8	4.6	3.7	0.8	0.1	1.1	2.1	8.1	17.3	.466	1.4	4.2	.347	4.0	5.0	.800
difference:	+13	+1.3	+5.8	+0.4	+1.6	+1.2	+1.9	+0.8	+0.3	-0.5	-0.9	+1.3	+3.5	+.027	+0.8	+2.4	+.014	+2.4	+1.2	+.379
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

Season 5
	Jalen Brunson	Gary Payton
Season	2022-23	1994-95
Team	New York Knicks	Seattle Supersonics
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Knicks Lost East Conf Semis	Supersonics Lost West 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		%
Jalen Brunson	68	35.0	24.0	0.6	3.0	3.5	6.2	0.9	0.2	2.1	2.2	8.6	17.6	.491	2.0	4.7	.416	4.8	5.8	.829
difference:	+14	+1.8	+3.4	+0.7	+0.9	+0.1	+0.9	+1.6		-0.4	-0.3	+0.2	+1.2	+.018	+1.1	+1.9	+.114	+1.8	+1.6	+.113
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
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Jalen Brunson	11	40.3	27.8	0.8	4.1	4.9	5.6	1.5	0.1	2.1	2.4	9.9	20.9	.474	2.4	7.3	.325	5.6	6.2	.912
difference:	+7	+2.7	+10.0	+0.7	+3.1	+2.4	+0.3	+0.2	+0.1	-0.1	-0.9	+1.9	+4.1	+.004	+1.9	+4.8	+.125	+4.3	+3.2	+.495
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

Season 6
	Jalen Brunson	Gary Payton
Season	2023-24	1995-96
Team	New York Knicks	Seattle Supersonics
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	All-NBA Second Team
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	-	Defensive Player of the Year
	-	Steals Leader
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Knicks Lost East Conf Semis	Supersonics Lost NBA Finals

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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		%
Jalen Brunson	77	35.4	28.7	0.6	3.1	3.6	6.7	0.9	0.2	2.4	1.9	10.3	21.4	.479	2.7	6.8	.401	5.5	6.5	.847
difference:	+4	+3.6	+9.4	+0.7	+0.2	+0.6	+0.8	+2.0		-0.8	-0.8	+2.7	+5.6	+.005	+1.5	+3.1	+.073	+2.7	+2.7	+.099
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
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Jalen Brunson	13	39.8	32.4	0.6	2.7	3.3	7.5	0.8	0.2	2.7	2.0	11.6	26.2	.444	2.0	6.5	.310	7.2	9.2	.775
difference:	+8	+3.6	+11.7	+0.3	+1.5	+1.8	+0.7	+1.0	+0.1	-0.3	-1.3	+3.9	+10.3	+.041		+1.7	+.100	+3.9	+4.0	+.142
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

Season 7
	Jalen Brunson	Gary Payton
Season	2024-25	1996-97
Team	New York Knicks	Seattle Supersonics
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	All-NBA Second Team
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	Clutch Player of the Year	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Knicks Lost East Conf Finals	Supersonics Lost West Conf Semis

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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		%
Jalen Brunson	65	35.4	26.0	0.4	2.5	2.9	7.3	0.9	0.1	2.5	2.1	9.0	18.5	.488	2.3	6.1	.383	5.7	6.9	.821
difference:	+17	+3.8	+4.2	+0.9	+0.8	+1.7	+0.2	+1.5	+0.1	-0.1	-0.4	+0.4	+0.4	+.012	+0.8	+1.5	+.070	+2.6	+2.6	+.106
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
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Jalen Brunson	18	37.8	29.4	0.7	2.8	3.4	7.0	0.4	0.3	3.1	3.3	10.1	21.8	.461	2.7	7.4	.358	6.7	7.8	.851
difference:	+6	+7.8	+5.6	+1.0	+1.0	+2.0	+1.7	+1.8		-0.2	-1.1	+1.3	+0.5	+.049	+0.6	+1.1	+.025	+2.5	+2.7	+.031
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

Additional Years
* Gary Payton played 10 seasons more than Jalen Brunson in the NBA. In that period—his seasons 8 to 17, from 1998 to 2007—Gary Payton played in 8 Playoffs and won one NBA Championship. In those 10 extra years over Jalen Brunson, Gary Payton got these achievements:
Honors & Awards	2 All-NBA First Team 2 All-NBA Second Team 1 All-NBA Third Team 5 All-Defensive First Team 5 All-Star Game