Gary Payton vs. Jalen Williams: Career Scoring Comparison

We break down the scoring legacies of Jalen Williams 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.

Player comparisons:
Career comparison / Season by season / Scoring / Stats / Stats Rankings

Gary Payton is among the NBA's all-time leaders in points and here we compare his scoring stats with those recorded by Jalen Williams.

By taking a look at their career numbers for points, the first conclusion one can arrive at is that Jalen Williams has better scoring averages both in the regular season and Playoffs while Gary Payton 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 3 NBA regular seasons played, Jalen Williams averages 1.8 points more than Gary Payton in his 17 seasons (18.1 points against 16.3). On the other hand Gary Payton scored a total of 17,912 points more than Jalen Williams (21,813 vs. 3,901).

Points Per Game

Seasons
Gary Payton 16.3
17
Jalen Williams 18.1
+1.8
3

Total Points

Seasons
Gary Payton 21,813
+17,912
17
Jalen Williams 3,901
3

Points in the Playoffs

Similar to what happens in the regular season, in the NBA postseason Jalen Williams has a better career point average than Gary Payton (+6.6 points per game) while Gary Payton scored more points (+1,476).

Points Per Game

Playoffs
Gary Payton 14.0
15
Jalen Williams 20.6
+6.6
2

Total Points

Playoffs
Gary Payton 2,155
+1,476
15
Jalen Williams 679
2

Points by Thresholds

Regular Season

40+ Point Games

Gary Payton 6
+5
Jalen Williams 1

30+ Point Games

Gary Payton 76
+61
Jalen Williams 15

20+ Point Games

Gary Payton 515
+421
Jalen Williams 94

10+ Point Games

Gary Payton 1,035
+846
Jalen Williams 189

1+ Point Games (games with points)

Gary Payton 1,304
+1089
Jalen Williams 215

0 Point Games (games without points)

Gary Payton 31
+31
Jalen Williams 0

Playoffs

40+ Point Games

Gary Payton 0
Jalen Williams 1
+1

30+ Point Games

Gary Payton 5
+2
Jalen Williams 3

20+ Point Games

Gary Payton 47
+30
Jalen Williams 17

10+ Point Games

Gary Payton 92
+60
Jalen Williams 32

1+ Point Games (games with points)

Gary Payton 150
+117
Jalen Williams 33

0 Point Games (games without points)

Gary Payton 4
+4
Jalen Williams 0

Career Shooting Stats Comparison

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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:+1.8+0.5+0.3+4.7+0.6+1.0+6.5+0.3+0.1+7.4+14+1,120
Jalen Williams 18.1 7.0 13.7 51.3 1.4 3.7 38.2 2.7 3.3 80.3 3 215

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:+17,912+7,193+15,743+4.7+832+2,784+6.5+2,694+3,769+7.4+14+1,120
Jalen Williams 3,901 1,515 2,955 51.3 300 786 38.2 571 711 80.3 3 215

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:+6.6+2.1+4.2+1.4+0.6+1.9+1.0+1.7+1.9+8.8+13+121
Jalen Williams 20.6 7.7 16.8 45.5 1.5 4.7 32.5 3.7 4.7 79.4 2 33

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:+1,476+602+1,382+1.4+87+281+1.0+185+281+8.8+13+121
Jalen Williams 679 253 556 45.5 50 154 32.5 123 155 79.4 2 33

Year by Year Points Average Comparison

NBA Champion = NBA Champion

Regular Season

Rookie Season

Points per gameYearGames
Gary Payton 7.2
199182
Jalen Williams 14.1
+6.9
202375

Season 2

Points per gameYearGames
Gary Payton 9.4
199281
Jalen Williams 19.1
+9.7
202471

Season 3

Points per gameYearGames
Gary Payton 13.5
199382
Jalen Williams 21.6
+8.1
2025NBA Champion69

Gary Payton's additional seasons:

* Gary Payton played 14 seasons more than Jalen Williams in the NBA.

In those years—his seasons 4 to 17, from 1994 to 2007—he averaged 17.8 points in a total of 1,090 regular season games. During that period, his highest average was 24.2 ppg and his lowest 5.3.

Playoffs

Rookie Season

Points per gameYearGames
Gary Payton 4.8
+4.8
19915
Jalen Williams -
DNP
20230

Season 2

Points per gameYearGames
Gary Payton 7.6
19928
Jalen Williams 18.7
+11.1
202410

Season 3

Points per gameYearGames
Gary Payton 12.3
199319
Jalen Williams 21.4
+9.1
2025NBA Champion23

Gary Payton's additional Playoffs:

* During his 14 additional NBA seasons, Gary Payton played in 12 Playoffs and won one NBA Championship. In those postseasons he averaged 15.0 points in a total of 122 games. His highest playoff average during that period was 25.8 ppg and his lowest 0.