Gary Payton vs. David Robinson: Career Scoring Comparison
We break down the scoring legacies of David Robinson and Gary Payton 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
Gary Payton and David Robinson are among the all-time leaders in points in NBA history—combining for a total of 42,603 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 David Robinson has better scoring averages both in the regular season and Playoffs and also scored more points in during the postseason while Gary Payton scored more points in the regular season. 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: |
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Who has better scoring stats? Career Numbers |
Career Numbers
Who has the better scoring stats?
Points in the Regular Season
In his 14 NBA regular seasons played, David Robinson averages 4.8 points more than Gary Payton in his 17 seasons (21.1 points against 16.3). On the other hand Gary Payton scored a total of 1,023 points more than David Robinson (21,813 vs. 20,790).
Points Per Game | Seasons | ||
| Gary Payton | 16.3 | 17 | |
| David Robinson | 21.1 | +4.8 | 14 |
Total Points | Seasons | ||
| Gary Payton | 21,813 | +1,023 | 17 |
| David Robinson | 20,790 | 14 | |
Scoring Titles | ||
| Gary Payton | 0 | |
| David Robinson | 1 |  +1 |
Points in the Playoffs
In the NBA postseason David Robinson has a better career point average than Gary Payton (+4.1 points per game) and he also scored more points (+66).
Points Per Game | Playoffs | ||
| Gary Payton | 14.0 | 15 | |
| David Robinson | 18.1 | +4.1 | 12 |
Total Points | Playoffs | ||
| Gary Payton | 2,155 | 15 | |
| David Robinson | 2,221 | +66 | 12 |
Points by Thresholds
Regular Season
70+ Point Games | ||||
| Gary Payton | 0 | |||
| David Robinson | 1 | +1 | ||
60+ Point Games | ||||
| Gary Payton | 0 | |||
| David Robinson | 1 | +1 | ||
50+ Point Games | ||||
| Gary Payton | 0 | |||
| David Robinson | 3 | +3 | ||
20+ Point Games | ||||
| Gary Payton | 515 | |||
| David Robinson | 548 | +33 | ||
10+ Point Games | ||||
| Gary Payton | 1,035 | +146 | ||
| David Robinson | 889 | |||
1+ Point Games (games with points) | ||||
| Gary Payton | 1,304 | +319 | ||
| David Robinson | 985 | |||
0 Point Games (games without points) | ||||
| Gary Payton | 31 | +29 | ||
| David Robinson | 2 | |||
Playoffs
40+ Point Games | ||||
| Gary Payton | 0 | |||
| David Robinson | 1 | +1 | ||
20+ Point Games | ||||
| Gary Payton | 47 | |||
| David Robinson | 55 | +8 | ||
10+ Point Games | ||||
| Gary Payton | 92 | |||
| David Robinson | 102 | +10 | ||
1+ Point Games (games with points) | ||||
| Gary Payton | 150 | +30 | ||
| David Robinson | 120 | |||
0 Point Games (games without points) | ||||
| Gary Payton | 4 | +1 | ||
| David Robinson | 3 | |||
Career Shooting Stats Comparison
Regular Season
Stats Per Game
| Pts | FGM / A | % | 3PM / A | % | FTM / A | % | Yrs | Gms | ||||
| 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 |
| difference: | +4.8 | +1.0 | +0.4 | +5.2 | +0.8 | +2.6 | +6.7 | +3.7 | +4.9 | +0.7 | +3 | +348 |
| David Robinson | 21.1 | 7.5 | 14.4 | 51.8 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 25.0 | 6.1 | 8.3 | 73.6 | 14 | 987 |
Total Stats
| Pts | FGM / A | % | 3PM / A | % | FTM / A | % | Yrs | Gms | ||||
| 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 |
| difference: | +1,023 | +1,343 | +4,477 | +5.2 | +1,107 | +3,470 | +6.7 | +2,770 | +3,721 | +0.7 | +3 | +348 |
| David Robinson | 20,790 | 7,365 | 14,221 | 51.8 | 25 | 100 | 25.0 | 6,035 | 8,201 | 73.6 | 14 | 987 |
Playoffs
Stats Per Game
| Pts | FGM / A | % | 3PM / A | % | FTM / A | % | Yrs | Gms | ||||
| Gary Payton | 14.0 | 5.6 | 12.6 | 44.1 | 0.9 | 2.8 | 31.5 | 2.0 | 2.8 | 70.6 | 15 | 154 |
| difference: | +4.1 | +0.6 | +0.4 | +3.8 | +0.9 | +2.7 | +21.5 | +3.6 | +5.1 | +0.2 | +3 | +31 |
| David Robinson | 18.1 | 6.2 | 13.0 | 47.9 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 10.0 | 5.6 | 7.9 | 70.8 | 12 | 123 |
Total Stats
| Pts | FGM / A | % | 3PM / A | % | FTM / A | % | Yrs | Gms | ||||
| Gary Payton | 2,155 | 855 | 1,938 | 44.1 | 137 | 435 | 31.5 | 308 | 436 | 70.6 | 15 | 154 |
| difference: | +66 | +87 | +334 | +3.8 | +136 | +425 | +21.5 | +376 | +530 | +0.2 | +3 | +31 |
| David Robinson | 2,221 | 768 | 1,604 | 47.9 | 1 | 10 | 10.0 | 684 | 966 | 70.8 | 12 | 123 |
Year by Year Points Average Comparison
= NBA Scoring Leader
= NBA ChampionRegular Season
Gary Payton's additional seasons: | ||||
* Gary Payton played 3 seasons more than David Robinson in the NBA. In those years—his seasons 15 to 17, from 2005 to 2007—he averaged 8.2 points in a total of 226 regular season games. During that period, his highest average was 11.3 ppg and his lowest 5.3. |
Playoffs
Season 3 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Gary Payton | 12.3 | +12.3 | 1993 | 19 |
| David Robinson | - | DNP | 1992 | 0 |
Season 8 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Gary Payton | 24.0 | +24.0 | 1998 | 10 |
| David Robinson | - | DNP | 1997 | 0 |
Season 9 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Gary Payton | - | DNP | 1999 | 0 |
| David Robinson | 19.4 | +19.4 | 1998 | 9 |
Season 11 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Gary Payton | - | DNP | 2001 | 0 |
| David Robinson | 23.5 | +23.5 | 2000 | 4 |
Gary Payton's additional Playoffs: | ||||
* During his 3 additional NBA seasons, Gary Payton played in 3 Playoffs and won one NBA Championship. In those postseasons he averaged 6.4 points in a total of 32 games. His highest playoff average during that period was 10.3 ppg and his lowest 0. |