Vern Mikkelsen vs. Gary Payton Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Gary Payton and Vern Mikkelsen, from their rookie seasons to their last year played, in chronological order with awards, stats, championships and playoff performance of their teams every year.

Player comparisons:
Career comparison / Season by season

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.

Vern Mikkelsen played 10 years in the NBA, 7 less than Gary Payton, who played 17. Vern Mikkelsen had the first of his seasons in 1949-50, 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 achivements, awards and championships won, the stats they recorded both in the Regular Season and the Playoffs and how their teams performed in the postseason.

Their Careers
Player	Total Seasons	Playoffs Played	NBA Years
Vern Mikkelsen	10	9	1949-50 to 1958-59
Gary Payton	17	15	1990-91 to 2006-07

Comparison Season by Season
Jump to season: 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12-13-14-15-16-17


Rookie Season
	Vern Mikkelsen	Gary Payton
Season	1949-50	1990-91
Team	Minneapolis Lakers	Seattle Supersonics
Honors & Awards	-	All-Rookie Second Team
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Supersonics Lost West Conf 1st Rd

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Vern Mikkelsen	68	-	11.6	-	-	-	1.8	-	-	-	3.3	4.2	10.6	.399	-	-	-	3.2	4.2	.752
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		%
Vern Mikkelsen	12	-	13.0	-	-	-	1.5	-	-	-	4.3	4.6	12.4	.369	-	-	-	3.8	5.0	.767
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 2
	Vern Mikkelsen	Gary Payton
Season	1950-51	1991-92
Team	Minneapolis Lakers	Seattle Supersonics
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Lakers Lost West Div Finals	Supersonics Lost West Conf Semis

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Vern Mikkelsen	64	-	14.1	-	-	10.2	2.8	-	-	-	4.1	5.6	14.0	.402	-	-	-	2.9	4.3	.676
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

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Vern Mikkelsen	7	-	15.6	-	-	9.6	2.4	-	-	-	5.0	5.6	13.7	.406	-	-	-	4.4	6.7	.660
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


Season 3
	Vern Mikkelsen	Gary Payton
Season	1951-52	1992-93
Team	Minneapolis Lakers	Seattle Supersonics
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Supersonics Lost West Conf Finals

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Vern Mikkelsen	66	35.5	15.3	-	-	10.3	2.7	-	-	-	4.3	5.5	13.1	.419	-	-	-	4.3	5.6	.761
Gary Payton	82	31.1	13.5	1.2	2.3	3.4	4.9	2.2	0.3	1.8	3.0	5.8	11.7	.494	0.1	0.4	.206	1.8	2.4	.770

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Vern Mikkelsen	13	38.1	13.3	-	-	8.5	1.5	-	-	-	5.1	4.6	10.7	.432	-	-	-	4.1	4.9	.828
Gary Payton	19	31.8	12.3	1.2	2.2	3.3	3.7	1.8	0.2	1.8	3.4	5.5	12.4	.443	0.1	0.3	.167	1.3	1.9	.676


Season 4
	Vern Mikkelsen	Gary Payton
Season	1952-53	1993-94
Team	Minneapolis Lakers	Seattle Supersonics
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
	-	All-NBA Third Team
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Supersonics Lost West Conf 1st Rd

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Vern Mikkelsen	70	35.2	15.0	-	-	9.3	2.1	-	-	-	4.1	5.4	12.4	.435	-	-	-	4.2	5.5	.752
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		%
Vern Mikkelsen	12	33.3	12.0	-	-	8.7	2.0	-	-	-	4.9	3.7	11.1	.331	-	-	-	4.7	5.5	.848
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
	Vern Mikkelsen	Gary Payton
Season	1953-54	1994-95
Team	Minneapolis Lakers	Seattle Supersonics
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Supersonics Lost West Conf 1st Rd

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Vern Mikkelsen	72	31.2	11.1	-	-	8.5	1.7	-	-	-	3.7	4.0	10.7	.374	-	-	-	3.1	4.1	.742
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		%
Vern Mikkelsen	13	28.8	10.2	-	-	5.6	1.3	-	-	-	4.0	3.9	8.5	.459	-	-	-	2.4	2.8	.861
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
	Vern Mikkelsen	Gary Payton
Season	1954-55	1995-96
Team	Minneapolis Lakers	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	Lakers Lost West Div Finals	Supersonics Lost NBA Finals

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Vern Mikkelsen	71	36.0	18.7	-	-	10.2	2.0	-	-	-	4.5	6.2	14.7	.422	-	-	-	6.3	8.4	.747
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		%
Vern Mikkelsen	7	29.9	13.7	-	-	11.1	1.9	-	-	-	5.1	4.3	12.1	.353	-	-	-	5.1	6.6	.783
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
	Vern Mikkelsen	Gary Payton
Season	1955-56	1996-97
Team	Minneapolis Lakers	Seattle Supersonics
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Lakers Lost West Div Semis	Supersonics Lost West Conf Semis

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Vern Mikkelsen	72	29.2	13.4	-	-	8.4	2.4	-	-	-	4.4	4.4	11.4	.386	-	-	-	4.6	5.7	.804
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		%
Vern Mikkelsen	3	30.0	13.3	-	-	5.7	0.7	-	-	-	4.7	3.7	8.7	.423	-	-	-	6.0	6.7	.900
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
	Vern Mikkelsen	Gary Payton
Season	1956-57	1997-98
Team	Minneapolis Lakers	Seattle Supersonics
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Lakers Lost West Div Finals	Supersonics Lost West Conf Semis

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Vern Mikkelsen	72	30.5	13.7	-	-	8.8	1.7	-	-	-	4.3	4.5	11.9	.377	-	-	-	4.8	5.9	.807
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		%
Vern Mikkelsen	5	32.4	17.6	-	-	8.6	3.4	-	-	-	5.8	6.6	16.6	.398	-	-	-	4.4	6.8	.647
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
	Vern Mikkelsen	Gary Payton
Season	1957-58	1998-99
Team	Minneapolis Lakers	Seattle Supersonics
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
Honors & Awards	-	All-Defensive First Team
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Did Not Play

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Vern Mikkelsen	72	33.2	17.3	-	-	11.2	2.3	-	-	-	4.2	6.1	14.9	.410	-	-	-	5.1	6.5	.786
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
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Vern Mikkelsen	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Gary Payton	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 10
	Vern Mikkelsen	Gary Payton
Season	1958-59	1999-00
Team	Minneapolis Lakers	Seattle Supersonics
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Lakers Lost NBA Finals	Supersonics Lost West Conf 1st Rd

more >>

Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Vern Mikkelsen	72	29.7	13.8	-	-	7.9	2.2	-	-	-	3.4	4.9	12.6	.390	-	-	-	4.0	4.9	.806
Gary Payton	82	41.8	24.2	1.2	5.2	6.5	8.9	1.9	0.2	2.7	2.2	9.1	20.3	.448	2.2	6.3	.340	3.8	5.2	.735

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Vern Mikkelsen	13	28.5	15.5	-	-	7.2	1.8	-	-	-	4.2	5.6	13.6	.412	-	-	-	4.3	5.6	.767
Gary Payton	5	44.2	25.8	1.6	6.0	7.6	7.4	1.8	0.2	3.6	3.2	10.0	22.6	.442	1.8	4.6	.391	4.0	5.2	.769


Season 11
	Vern Mikkelsen	Gary Payton
Season	-	2000-01
Team	-	Seattle Supersonics
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Third Team
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	-	Did Not Play

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Vern Mikkelsen	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Gary Payton	79	41.1	23.1	0.9	3.6	4.6	8.1	1.6	0.3	2.6	2.3	9.2	20.1	.456	1.3	3.4	.375	3.4	4.5	.766

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Vern Mikkelsen	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Gary Payton	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 12
	Vern Mikkelsen	Gary Payton
Season	-	2001-02
Team	-	Seattle Supersonics
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	-	Supersonics Lost West Conf 1st Rd

more >>

Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Vern Mikkelsen	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Gary Payton	82	40.3	22.1	1.0	3.9	4.8	9.0	1.6	0.3	2.5	2.2	9.0	19.2	.467	0.9	2.9	.314	3.3	4.1	.797

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Vern Mikkelsen	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Gary Payton	5	41.2	22.2	2.0	6.6	8.6	5.8	0.6	0.4	2.6	2.4	9.0	21.2	.425	0.8	3.0	.267	3.4	5.8	.586


Season 13
	Vern Mikkelsen	Gary Payton
Season	-	2002-03
Team	-	Seattle Supersonics, Milwaukee Bucks
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	-	Bucks Lost East Conf 1st Rd

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Vern Mikkelsen	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Gary Payton	80	40.1	20.4	1.0	3.2	4.2	8.3	1.7	0.3	2.3	2.3	8.3	18.3	.454	0.7	2.3	.297	3.1	4.4	.710

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Vern Mikkelsen	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Gary Payton	6	41.8	18.5	0.7	2.3	3.0	8.7	1.3	0.2	2.2	3.0	8.0	18.7	.429	0.2	2.5	.067	2.3	3.3	.700


Season 14
	Vern Mikkelsen	Gary Payton
Season	-	2003-04
Team	-	Los Angeles Lakers
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	-	Lakers Lost NBA Finals

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Vern Mikkelsen	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Gary Payton	82	34.5	14.6	0.9	3.3	4.2	5.5	1.2	0.2	1.8	2.1	5.9	12.5	.471	0.7	2.0	.333	2.2	3.1	.714

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Vern Mikkelsen	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Gary Payton	22	35.0	7.8	0.9	2.4	3.3	5.3	1.0	0.2	1.3	2.7	3.1	8.5	.366	0.6	2.5	.250	1.0	1.3	.750


Season 15
	Vern Mikkelsen	Gary Payton
Season	-	2004-05
Team	-	Boston Celtics
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	-	Celtics Lost East Conf 1st Rd

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Vern Mikkelsen	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Gary Payton	77	33.0	11.3	0.6	2.4	3.1	6.1	1.1	0.2	1.9	1.6	4.4	9.4	.468	0.5	1.7	.326	2.0	2.6	.761

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Vern Mikkelsen	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Gary Payton	7	34.1	10.3	1.1	3.0	4.1	4.6	0.9	0.1	1.6	1.4	4.7	10.6	.446	0.1	2.0	.071	0.7	0.9	.833


Season 16
	Vern Mikkelsen	Gary Payton
Season	-	2005-06
Team	-	Miami Heat
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	-	NBA Champion

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Vern Mikkelsen	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Gary Payton	81	28.5	7.7	0.4	2.5	2.9	3.2	0.9	0.1	1.3	2.1	2.8	6.8	.420	0.8	2.8	.287	1.2	1.6	.794

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Vern Mikkelsen	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Gary Payton	23	24.3	5.8	0.3	1.5	1.7	1.6	1.0	0.1	0.8	2.4	2.1	5.0	.422	0.7	2.5	.293	0.8	1.1	.720


Season 17
	Vern Mikkelsen	Gary Payton
Season	-	2006-07
Team	-	Miami Heat
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	-	Heat Lost East Conf 1st Rd

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Vern Mikkelsen	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Gary Payton	68	22.1	5.3	0.3	1.7	1.9	3.0	0.6	0.0	1.0	1.7	2.1	5.4	.393	0.5	1.8	.260	0.6	0.8	.667

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Vern Mikkelsen	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Gary Payton	2	16.0	0.0	0.0	2.0	2.0	1.5	0.0	0.0	2.0	1.5	0.0	1.5	.000	0.0	0.5	.000	0.0	0.0	-

Vern Mikkelsen vs. Gary Payton Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Gary Payton and Vern Mikkelsen, from their rookie seasons to their last year played, in chronological order with awards, stats, championships and playoff performance of their teams every year.

Their Careers

Comparison Season by Season

Rookie Season

Season 2

Season 3

Season 4

Season 5

Season 6

Season 7

Season 8

Season 9

Season 10

Season 11

Season 12

Season 13

Season 14

Season 15

Season 16

Season 17