John Collins vs. Gary Payton Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Gary Payton and John Collins, 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.

John Collins played 9 years in the NBA, 8 less than Gary Payton, who played 17. John Collins had the first of his seasons in 2017-18, 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
	John Collins	Gary Payton
Season	2017-18	1990-91
Team	Atlanta Hawks	Seattle Supersonics
Honors & Awards	All-Rookie Second Team	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		%
John Collins	74	24.1	10.5	2.4	4.9	7.3	1.3	0.6	1.1	1.4	2.9	4.2	7.4	.576	0.2	0.6	.340	1.8	2.5	.715
difference:	+8	+3.3	+3.3	+1.1	+3.3	+4.3	+5.1	+1.4	+0.9	-0.8	-0.1	+1.0	+0.4	+.126	+0.2	+0.4	+.263	+1.0	+1.3	+.004
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		%
John Collins	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
	John Collins	Gary Payton
Season	2020-21	1993-94
Team	Atlanta Hawks	Seattle Supersonics
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Third Team
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Hawks Lost East 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		%
John Collins	63	29.3	17.6	1.9	5.5	7.4	1.2	0.5	1.0	1.3	3.1	6.8	12.2	.556	1.3	3.3	.399	2.7	3.2	.833
difference:	+19	+5.8	+1.1	+0.6	+3.5	+4.1	+4.8	+1.8	+0.8	-0.8	-0.3	+0.3	+1.9	+.052	+1.1	+2.6	+.121	+0.7	+0.2	+.238
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		%
John Collins	18	32.0	13.9	2.0	6.7	8.7	0.9	0.4	0.6	1.3	3.3	5.6	10.1	.549	1.1	3.1	.357	1.7	2.0	.833
difference:	+13	+4.2	+1.9	+0.8	+4.5	+5.3	+4.7	+1.2	+0.2	-0.3	-0.3	+1.2	+3.7	+.056	+0.5	+1.3	+.024	+0.1	+1.8	+.412
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
	John Collins	Gary Payton
Season	2021-22	1994-95
Team	Atlanta Hawks	Seattle Supersonics
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Hawks Lost East Conf 1st Rd	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		%
John Collins	54	30.8	16.2	1.7	6.1	7.8	1.8	0.6	1.0	1.1	3.0	6.3	11.9	.526	1.2	3.3	.364	2.5	3.1	.793
difference:	+28	+6.0	+4.4	+0.4	+4.0	+4.4	+5.3	+1.9	+0.8	-1.4	-0.5	+2.1	+4.5	+.017	+0.3	+0.5	+.062	+0.5	+1.1	+.077
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		%
John Collins	5	24.4	9.4	0.4	4.2	4.6	1.2	0.4	0.2	1.0	2.4	3.8	7.8	.487	0.8	2.2	.364	1.0	2.0	.500
difference:	+1	+18.6	+8.4	+1.1	+3.2	+2.1	+4.1	+0.9	+0.2	-1.0	-0.9	+4.2	+9.0	+.009	+0.3	+0.3	+.164	+0.3	+1.0	+.083
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
	John Collins	Gary Payton
Season	2022-23	1995-96
Team	Atlanta Hawks	Seattle Supersonics
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	-	Defensive Player of the Year
	-	Steals Leader
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Hawks Lost East Conf 1st Rd	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		%
John Collins	71	30.0	13.1	1.1	5.4	6.5	1.2	0.6	1.0	1.1	3.1	5.1	10.0	.508	1.0	3.4	.292	2.0	2.5	.803
difference:	+10	+9.0	+6.2	+0.2	+2.5	+2.3	+6.3	+2.3	+0.8	-2.1	-0.4	+2.5	+5.8	+.024	+0.2	+0.3	+.036	+0.8	+1.3	+.055
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		%
John Collins	6	27.3	11.3	1.2	3.2	4.3	0.8	0.3	1.0	1.5	2.2	4.3	10.0	.433	1.8	5.3	.344	0.8	1.0	.833
difference:	+15	+16.1	+9.4	+0.3	+1.0	+0.8	+6.0	+1.5	+0.7	-1.5	-1.1	+3.4	+5.9	+.052	+0.2	+0.5	+.066	+2.5	+4.2	+.200
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
	John Collins	Gary Payton
Season	2023-24	1996-97
Team	Utah Jazz	Seattle Supersonics
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	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		%
John Collins	68	28.0	15.1	2.3	6.1	8.5	1.1	0.6	0.9	1.4	2.8	5.8	11.0	.532	1.3	3.4	.371	2.2	2.7	.795
difference:	+14	+11.2	+6.7	+1.0	+2.8	+3.9	+6.0	+1.8	+0.7	-1.2	-0.3	+2.8	+7.1	+.056	+0.2	+1.2	+.058	+0.9	+1.6	+.080
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		%
John Collins	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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

Season 8
	John Collins	Gary Payton
Season	2024-25	1997-98
Team	Utah Jazz	Seattle Supersonics
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Supersonics Lost West Conf Semis

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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		%
John Collins	40	30.5	19.0	2.2	6.0	8.2	2.0	1.0	1.0	2.6	2.9	7.0	13.3	.527	1.5	3.7	.399	3.5	4.1	.848
difference:	+42	+7.9	+0.2	+1.3	+2.4	+3.6	+6.3	+1.3	+0.8	-0.2	-0.5	+0.1	+2.3	+.074	+0.1	+1.1	+.061	+0.1	+0.5	+.104
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
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
John Collins	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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

Season 9
	John Collins	Gary Payton
Season	2025-26	1998-99
Team	Los Angeles Clippers	Seattle Supersonics
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
	-	All-Defensive First Team
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Did Not Play

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9th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
John Collins	25	26.9	12.1	1.3	3.4	4.6	0.7	0.8	0.6	1.5	2.3	4.7	9.4	.496	0.9	3.0	.297	1.8	2.3	.807
difference:	+25	+13.3	+9.6	+0.1	+0.2	+0.3	+8.0	+1.4	+0.4	-1.6		+3.3	+9.1	+.062	+0.8	+2.6	+.002	+2.2	+3.2	+.086
Gary Payton	50	40.2	21.7	1.2	3.6	4.9	8.7	2.2	0.2	3.1	2.3	8.0	18.5	.434	1.7	5.6	.295	4.0	5.5	.721
Playoffs Stats
* Neiher John Collins nor Gary Payton played in the postseason in their season 9

Additional Years
* Gary Payton played 8 seasons more than John Collins in the NBA. In that period—his seasons 10 to 17, from 2000 to 2007—Gary Payton played in 7 Playoffs and won one NBA Championship. In those 8 extra years over John Collins, Gary Payton got these achievements:
Honors & Awards	1 All-NBA First Team 1 All-NBA Second Team 1 All-NBA Third Team 3 All-Defensive First Team 4 All-Star Game