Chris Paul vs. Jayson Tatum: Career Scoring Comparison

We break down the scoring legacies of Jayson Tatum 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.

Chris Paul is among the NBA's all-time leaders in points while Jayson Tatum has one of the highest career averages in league history, and here we compare all their scoring stats.

By taking a look at their career numbers for points, the first conclusion one can arrive at is that Jayson Tatum has better scoring averages both in the regular season and Playoffs while Chris Paul scored more total points in both stages. 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.

Career Numbers
Who has the better scoring stats?

Points in the Regular Season

In his 8 NBA regular seasons played, Jayson Tatum averages 6.6 points more than Chris Paul in his 20 seasons (23.6 points against 17.0). On the other hand Chris Paul scored a total of 9,227 points more than Jayson Tatum (23,011 vs. 13,784).

Points Per Game

Seasons
Chris Paul 17.0
20
Jayson Tatum 23.6
+6.6
8

Total Points

Seasons
Chris Paul 23,011
+9,227
20
Jayson Tatum 13,784
8

Points in the Playoffs

Similar to what happens in the regular season, in the NBA postseason Jayson Tatum has a better career point average than Chris Paul (+4.3 points per game) while Chris Paul scored more points (+45).

Points Per Game

Playoffs
Chris Paul 20.0
15
Jayson Tatum 24.3
+4.3
8

Total Points

Playoffs
Chris Paul 2,981
+45
15
Jayson Tatum 2,936
8

Points by Thresholds

Regular Season

60+ Point Games

Chris Paul 0
Jayson Tatum 1
+1

50+ Point Games

Chris Paul 0
Jayson Tatum 5
+5

40+ Point Games

Chris Paul 8
Jayson Tatum 29
+21

30+ Point Games

Chris Paul 77
Jayson Tatum 162
+85

20+ Point Games

Chris Paul 472
+97
Jayson Tatum 375

10+ Point Games

Chris Paul 1,133
+583
Jayson Tatum 550

1+ Point Games (games with points)

Chris Paul 1,350
+766
Jayson Tatum 584

0 Point Games (games without points)

Chris Paul 4
+3
Jayson Tatum 1

Playoffs

50+ Point Games

Chris Paul 0
Jayson Tatum 2
+2

40+ Point Games

Chris Paul 2
Jayson Tatum 5
+3

30+ Point Games

Chris Paul 18
Jayson Tatum 34
+16

20+ Point Games

Chris Paul 74
Jayson Tatum 84
+10

10+ Point Games

Chris Paul 134
+19
Jayson Tatum 115

1+ Point Games (games with points)

Chris Paul 149
+28
Jayson Tatum 121

0 Point Games (games without points)

Chris Paul 0
Jayson Tatum 0

Career Shooting Stats Comparison

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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:+6.6+2.2+5.0+1.0+1.2+3.4+0.9+1.3+3.1+12+769
Jayson Tatum 23.6 8.2 17.8 45.9 2.6 7.1 37.0 4.5 5.4 84.0 8 585

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:+9,227+3,358+6,923+1.0+314+848+2,197+2,412+3.1+12+769
Jayson Tatum 13,784 4,789 10,429 45.9 1,546 4,181 37.0 2,660 3,167 84.0 8 585

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:+4.3+0.7+3.2+4.5+0.8+2.5+2.5+2.1+2.6+1.3+7+28
Jayson Tatum 24.3 8.1 18.5 43.9 2.4 6.9 34.8 5.6 6.7 84.1 8 121

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:+45+123+46+4.5+48+186+2.5+153+191+1.3+7+28
Jayson Tatum 2,936 983 2,241 43.9 292 840 34.8 678 806 84.1 8 121

Year by Year Points Average Comparison

NBA Champion = NBA Champion

Regular Season

Rookie Season

Points per gameYearGames
Chris Paul 16.1
+2.2
200678
Jayson Tatum 13.9
201880

Season 2

Points per gameYearGames
Chris Paul 17.3
+1.6
200764
Jayson Tatum 15.7
201979

Season 3

Points per gameYearGames
Chris Paul 21.1
200880
Jayson Tatum 23.4
+2.3
202066

Season 4

Points per gameYearGames
Chris Paul 22.8
200978
Jayson Tatum 26.4
+3.6
202164

Season 5

Points per gameYearGames
Chris Paul 18.7
201045
Jayson Tatum 26.9
+8.2
202276

Season 6

Points per gameYearGames
Chris Paul 15.9
201180
Jayson Tatum 30.1
+14.2
202374

Season 7

Points per gameYearGames
Chris Paul 19.8
201260
Jayson Tatum 26.9
+7.1
2024NBA Champion74

Season 8

Points per gameYearGames
Chris Paul 16.9
201370
Jayson Tatum 26.8
+9.9
202572

Chris Paul's additional seasons:

* Chris Paul played 12 seasons more than Jayson Tatum in the NBA.

In those years—his seasons 9 to 20, from 2014 to 2025—he averaged 15.9 points in a total of 799 regular season games. During that period, his highest average was 19.5 ppg and his lowest 8.8.

Playoffs

Rookie Season

Points per gameYearGames
Chris Paul -
DNP
20060
Jayson Tatum 18.5
+18.5
201819

Season 2

Points per gameYearGames
Chris Paul -
DNP
20070
Jayson Tatum 15.2
+15.2
20199

Season 3

Points per gameYearGames
Chris Paul 24.1
200812
Jayson Tatum 25.7
+1.6
202017

Season 4

Points per gameYearGames
Chris Paul 16.6
20095
Jayson Tatum 30.6
+14.0
20215

Season 5

Points per gameYearGames
Chris Paul -
DNP
20100
Jayson Tatum 25.6
+25.6
202224

Season 6

Points per gameYearGames
Chris Paul 22.0
20116
Jayson Tatum 27.2
+5.2
202320

Season 7

Points per gameYearGames
Chris Paul 17.6
201211
Jayson Tatum 25.0
+7.4
2024NBA Champion19

Season 8

Points per gameYearGames
Chris Paul 22.8
20136
Jayson Tatum 28.1
+5.3
20258

Chris Paul's additional Playoffs:

* During his 12 additional NBA seasons, Chris Paul played in 10 Playoffs. In those postseasons he averaged 19.7 points in a total of 109 games. His highest playoff average during that period was 25.3 ppg and his lowest 12.4.