Gary Payton vs. Jayson Tatum: Career Scoring Comparison

We break down the scoring legacies of Jayson Tatum 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 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 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.

Career Numbers
Who has the better scoring stats?

Points in the Regular Season

In his 8 NBA regular seasons played, Jayson Tatum averages 7.3 points more than Gary Payton in his 17 seasons (23.6 points against 16.3). On the other hand Gary Payton scored a total of 8,029 points more than Jayson Tatum (21,813 vs. 13,784).

Points Per Game

Seasons
Gary Payton 16.3
17
Jayson Tatum 23.6
+7.3
8

Total Points

Seasons
Gary Payton 21,813
+8,029
17
Jayson Tatum 13,784
8

Points in the Playoffs

In the NBA postseason Jayson Tatum has a better career point average than Gary Payton (+10.3 points per game) and he also scored more points (+781).

Points Per Game

Playoffs
Gary Payton 14.0
15
Jayson Tatum 24.3
+10.3
8

Total Points

Playoffs
Gary Payton 2,155
15
Jayson Tatum 2,936
+781
8

Points by Thresholds

Regular Season

60+ Point Games

Gary Payton 0
Jayson Tatum 1
+1

50+ Point Games

Gary Payton 0
Jayson Tatum 5
+5

40+ Point Games

Gary Payton 6
Jayson Tatum 29
+23

30+ Point Games

Gary Payton 76
Jayson Tatum 162
+86

20+ Point Games

Gary Payton 515
+140
Jayson Tatum 375

10+ Point Games

Gary Payton 1,035
+485
Jayson Tatum 550

1+ Point Games (games with points)

Gary Payton 1,304
+720
Jayson Tatum 584

0 Point Games (games without points)

Gary Payton 31
+30
Jayson Tatum 1

Playoffs

50+ Point Games

Gary Payton 0
Jayson Tatum 2
+2

40+ Point Games

Gary Payton 0
Jayson Tatum 5
+5

30+ Point Games

Gary Payton 5
Jayson Tatum 34
+29

20+ Point Games

Gary Payton 47
Jayson Tatum 84
+37

10+ Point Games

Gary Payton 92
Jayson Tatum 115
+23

1+ Point Games (games with points)

Gary Payton 150
+29
Jayson Tatum 121

0 Point Games (games without points)

Gary Payton 4
+4
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
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:+7.3+1.7+3.8+0.7+1.8+4.4+5.3+2.1+2.0+11.1+9+750
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
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:+8,029+3,919+8,269+0.7+414+611+5.3+605+1,313+11.1+9+750
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
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:+10.3+2.5+5.9+0.3+1.5+4.1+3.3+3.6+3.9+13.5+7+33
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
Gary Payton 2,155 855 1,938 44.1 137 435 31.5 308 436 70.6 15 154
difference:+781+128+303+0.3+155+405+3.3+370+370+13.5+7+33
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
Gary Payton 7.2
199182
Jayson Tatum 13.9
+6.7
201880

Season 2

Points per gameYearGames
Gary Payton 9.4
199281
Jayson Tatum 15.7
+6.3
201979

Season 3

Points per gameYearGames
Gary Payton 13.5
199382
Jayson Tatum 23.4
+9.9
202066

Season 4

Points per gameYearGames
Gary Payton 16.5
199482
Jayson Tatum 26.4
+9.9
202164

Season 5

Points per gameYearGames
Gary Payton 20.6
199582
Jayson Tatum 26.9
+6.3
202276

Season 6

Points per gameYearGames
Gary Payton 19.3
199681
Jayson Tatum 30.1
+10.8
202374

Season 7

Points per gameYearGames
Gary Payton 21.8
199782
Jayson Tatum 26.9
+5.1
2024NBA Champion74

Season 8

Points per gameYearGames
Gary Payton 19.2
199882
Jayson Tatum 26.8
+7.6
202572

Gary Payton's additional seasons:

- Gary Payton played 10 seasons more than Jayson Tatum in the NBA.

In those years—his seasons 9 to 18, from 1999 to 2007—he averaged 17.1 points in a total of 761 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
19915
Jayson Tatum 18.5
+13.7
201819

Season 2

Points per gameYearGames
Gary Payton 7.6
19928
Jayson Tatum 15.2
+7.6
20199

Season 3

Points per gameYearGames
Gary Payton 12.3
199319
Jayson Tatum 25.7
+13.4
202017

Season 4

Points per gameYearGames
Gary Payton 15.8
19945
Jayson Tatum 30.6
+14.8
20215

Season 5

Points per gameYearGames
Gary Payton 17.8
19954
Jayson Tatum 25.6
+7.8
202224

Season 6

Points per gameYearGames
Gary Payton 20.7
199621
Jayson Tatum 27.2
+6.5
202320

Season 7

Points per gameYearGames
Gary Payton 23.8
199712
Jayson Tatum 25.0
+1.2
2024NBA Champion19

Season 8

Points per gameYearGames
Gary Payton 24.0
199810
Jayson Tatum 28.1
+4.1
20258

Gary Payton's additional Playoffs:

- During his 10 additional NBA seasons, Gary Payton played in 8 Playoffs and won one NBA Championship. In those postseasons he averaged 11.0 points in a total of 76 games. His highest playoff average during that period was 25.8 ppg and his lowest 0.