Chris Paul vs. Gary Payton: Career Scoring Comparison
We break down the scoring legacies of Gary Payton and Chris Paul 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.
Career comparison / Season by season / Scoring / Stats / Stats Rankings / Games against each other
Chris Paul and Gary Payton are among the all-time leaders in points in NBA history—combining for a total of 44,824 points—. Here we compare their scoring stats.
By taking a look at their career numbers for points, the first conclusion one can arrive at is that Chris Paul has better scoring stats than Gary Payton 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.
On this page we compare: |
|
Who has better scoring stats? Career Numbers |
Career Numbers
Who has the better scoring stats?
Points in the Regular Season
In his 20 NBA regular seasons played, Chris Paul averages 0.7 points more than Gary Payton in his 17 seasons (17.0 points against 16.3), and he also scored a total of 1,198 points more (23,011 vs. 21,813).
Points Per Game | Seasons | ||
| Chris Paul | 17.0 | +0.7 | 20 |
| Gary Payton | 16.3 | 17 | |
Total Points | Seasons | ||
| Chris Paul | 23,011 | +1,198 | 20 |
| Gary Payton | 21,813 | 17 | |
Points in the Playoffs
Similar to what happens in the regular season, in the NBA postseason Chris Paul has a better career point average than Gary Payton (+6 points per game) and he also scored more points (+826).
Points Per Game | Playoffs | ||
| Chris Paul | 20.0 | +6.0 | 15 |
| Gary Payton | 14.0 | 15 | |
Total Points | Playoffs | ||
| Chris Paul | 2,981 | +826 | 15 |
| Gary Payton | 2,155 | 15 | |
Points by Thresholds
Regular Season
20+ Point Games | ||||
| Chris Paul | 472 | |||
| Gary Payton | 515 | +43 | ||
10+ Point Games | ||||
| Chris Paul | 1,133 | +98 | ||
| Gary Payton | 1,035 | |||
1+ Point Games (games with points) | ||||
| Chris Paul | 1,350 | +46 | ||
| Gary Payton | 1,304 | |||
0 Point Games (games without points) | ||||
| Chris Paul | 4 | |||
| Gary Payton | 31 | +27 | ||
Playoffs
40+ Point Games | ||||
| Chris Paul | 2 | +2 | ||
| Gary Payton | 0 | |||
20+ Point Games | ||||
| Chris Paul | 74 | +27 | ||
| Gary Payton | 47 | |||
10+ Point Games | ||||
| Chris Paul | 134 | +42 | ||
| Gary Payton | 92 | |||
1+ Point Games (games with points) | ||||
| Chris Paul | 149 | |||
| Gary Payton | 150 | +1 | ||
0 Point Games (games without points) | ||||
| Chris Paul | 0 | |||
| Gary Payton | 4 | +4 | ||
Career Shooting Stats Comparison
Regular Season
Stats Per Game
| Pts | FGM / A | % | 3PM / A | % | FTM / A | % | Yrs | Gms | ||||
| Chris Paul | 17.0 | 6.0 | 12.8 | 47.0 | 1.4 | 3.7 | 37.0 | 3.6 | 4.1 | 87.1 | 20 | 1,354 |
| difference: | +0.7 | +0.5 | +1.2 | +0.4 | +0.6 | +1.0 | +5.3 | +1.2 | +0.7 | +14.2 | +3 | +19 |
| Gary Payton | 16.3 | 6.5 | 14.0 | 46.6 | 0.8 | 2.7 | 31.7 | 2.4 | 3.4 | 72.9 | 17 | 1,335 |
Total Stats
| Pts | FGM / A | % | 3PM / A | % | FTM / A | % | Yrs | Gms | ||||
| Chris Paul | 23,011 | 8,147 | 17,352 | 47.0 | 1,860 | 5,029 | 37.0 | 4,857 | 5,579 | 87.1 | 20 | 1,354 |
| difference: | +1,198 | +561 | +1,346 | +0.4 | +728 | +1,459 | +5.3 | +1,592 | +1,099 | +14.2 | +3 | +19 |
| Gary Payton | 21,813 | 8,708 | 18,698 | 46.6 | 1,132 | 3,570 | 31.7 | 3,265 | 4,480 | 72.9 | 17 | 1,335 |
Playoffs
Stats Per Game
| Pts | FGM / A | % | 3PM / A | % | FTM / A | % | Yrs | Gms | ||||
| Chris Paul | 20.0 | 7.4 | 15.3 | 48.4 | 1.6 | 4.4 | 37.3 | 3.5 | 4.1 | 85.4 | 15 | 149 |
| difference: | +6.0 | +1.8 | +2.7 | +4.2 | +0.7 | +1.6 | +5.8 | +1.5 | +1.3 | +14.8 | +5 | |
| Gary Payton | 14.0 | 5.6 | 12.6 | 44.1 | 0.9 | 2.8 | 31.5 | 2.0 | 2.8 | 70.6 | 15 | 154 |
Total Stats
| Pts | FGM / A | % | 3PM / A | % | FTM / A | % | Yrs | Gms | ||||
| Chris Paul | 2,981 | 1,106 | 2,287 | 48.4 | 244 | 654 | 37.3 | 525 | 615 | 85.4 | 15 | 149 |
| difference: | +826 | +251 | +349 | +4.2 | +107 | +219 | +5.8 | +217 | +179 | +14.8 | +5 | |
| Gary Payton | 2,155 | 855 | 1,938 | 44.1 | 137 | 435 | 31.5 | 308 | 436 | 70.6 | 15 | 154 |
Year by Year Points Average Comparison
= NBA ChampionRegular Season
Chris Paul's additional seasons: | ||||
* Chris Paul played 2 seasons more than Gary Payton in the NBA. In those years—his seasons 19 to 20, from 2024 to 2025—he averaged 9.0 points in a total of 140 regular season games. |
Playoffs
Rookie Season | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Chris Paul | - | DNP | 2006 | 0 |
| Gary Payton | 4.8 | +4.8 | 1991 | 5 |
Season 2 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Chris Paul | - | DNP | 2007 | 0 |
| Gary Payton | 7.6 | +7.6 | 1992 | 8 |
Season 5 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Chris Paul | - | DNP | 2010 | 0 |
| Gary Payton | 17.8 | +17.8 | 1995 | 4 |
Season 9 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Chris Paul | 19.8 | +19.8 | 2014 | 13 |
| Gary Payton | - | DNP | 1999 | 0 |
Season 11 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Chris Paul | 23.8 | +23.8 | 2016 | 4 |
| Gary Payton | - | DNP | 2001 | 0 |
Chris Paul's additional Playoffs: | ||||
* During his 2 additional NBA seasons, Chris Paul didn't play in the postseason. |