Michael Jordan vs. Gary Payton: Career Scoring Comparison

We break down the scoring legacies of Gary Payton and Michael Jordan 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 / Games against each other

Michael Jordan and Gary Payton are among the all-time leaders in points in NBA history—combining for a total of 54,105 points—. MJ is also the all-time leader in points per game. 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 Michael Jordan 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
Games of 30+ points, 40+, 50+, etc
Shooting Stats
Points Year by Year

Career Numbers
Who has the better scoring stats?

Points in the Regular Season

In his 15 NBA regular seasons played, Michael Jordan averages 13.8 points more than Gary Payton in his 17 seasons (30.1 points against 16.3), and he also scored a total of 10,479 points more (32,292 vs. 21,813).

Points Per Game

Seasons
Michael Jordan 30.1
+13.8
15
Gary Payton 16.3
17

Total Points

Seasons
Michael Jordan 32,292
+10,479
15
Gary Payton 21,813
17

Scoring Titles

Michael Jordan 10
Scoring leaderScoring leaderScoring leaderScoring leaderScoring leaderScoring leaderScoring leaderScoring leaderScoring leaderScoring leader
+10
Gary Payton 0

Points in the Playoffs

Similar to what happens in the regular season, in the NBA postseason Michael Jordan has a better career point average than Gary Payton (+19.4 points per game) and he also scored more points (+3,832).

Points Per Game

Playoffs
Michael Jordan 33.4
+19.4
13
Gary Payton 14.0
15

Total Points

Playoffs
Michael Jordan 5,987
+3,832
13
Gary Payton 2,155
15

Points by Thresholds

Regular Season

60+ Point Games

Michael Jordan 4
+4
Gary Payton 0

50+ Point Games

Michael Jordan 31
+31
Gary Payton 0

40+ Point Games

Michael Jordan 173
+167
Gary Payton 6

30+ Point Games

Michael Jordan 562
+486
Gary Payton 76

20+ Point Games

Michael Jordan 926
+411
Gary Payton 515

10+ Point Games

Michael Jordan 1,059
+24
Gary Payton 1,035

1+ Point Games (games with points)

Michael Jordan 1,072
Gary Payton 1,304
+232

0 Point Games (games without points)

Michael Jordan 0
Gary Payton 31
+31

Playoffs

60+ Point Games

Michael Jordan 1
+1
Gary Payton 0

50+ Point Games

Michael Jordan 8
+8
Gary Payton 0

40+ Point Games

Michael Jordan 38
+38
Gary Payton 0

30+ Point Games

Michael Jordan 109
+104
Gary Payton 5

20+ Point Games

Michael Jordan 173
+126
Gary Payton 47

10+ Point Games

Michael Jordan 179
+87
Gary Payton 92

1+ Point Games (games with points)

Michael Jordan 179
+29
Gary Payton 150

0 Point Games (games without points)

Michael Jordan 0
Gary Payton 4
+4

Career Shooting Stats Comparison

more >>

Regular Season

Stats Per Game

Pts FGM / A% 3PM / A% FTM / A% Yrs Gms
Michael Jordan 30.1 11.4 22.9 49.7 0.5 1.7 32.7 6.8 8.2 83.5 15 1,072
difference:+13.8+4.9+8.9+3.1+0.3+1.0+1.0+4.4+4.8+10.6+2+263
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
Michael Jordan 32,292 12,192 24,537 49.7 581 1,778 32.7 7,327 8,772 83.5 15 1,072
difference:+10,479+3,484+5,839+3.1+551+1,792+1.0+4,062+4,292+10.6+2+263
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
Michael Jordan 33.4 12.2 25.1 48.7 0.8 2.5 33.2 8.2 9.9 82.8 13 179
difference:+19.4+6.6+12.5+4.5+0.1+0.3+1.7+6.2+7.1+12.2+2+25
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
Michael Jordan 5,987 2,188 4,497 48.7 148 446 33.2 1,463 1,766 82.8 13 179
difference:+3,832+1,333+2,559+4.5+11+11+1.7+1,155+1,330+12.2+2+25
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

Scoring leader= NBA Scoring Leader
NBA Champion = NBA Champion

Regular Season

Rookie Season

Points per gameYearGames
Michael Jordan 28.2
+21.0
198582
Gary Payton 7.2
199182

Season 2

Points per gameYearGames
Michael Jordan 22.7
+13.3
198618
Gary Payton 9.4
199281

Season 3

Points per gameYearGames
Michael Jordan Scoring leader37.1
+23.6
198782
Gary Payton 13.5
199382

Season 4

Points per gameYearGames
Michael Jordan Scoring leader35.0
+18.5
198882
Gary Payton 16.5
199482

Season 5

Points per gameYearGames
Michael Jordan Scoring leader32.5
+11.9
198981
Gary Payton 20.6
199582

Season 6

Points per gameYearGames
Michael Jordan Scoring leader33.6
+14.3
199082
Gary Payton 19.3
199681

Season 7

Points per gameYearGames
Michael Jordan Scoring leader31.5
+9.7
1991NBA Champion82
Gary Payton 21.8
199782

Season 8

Points per gameYearGames
Michael Jordan Scoring leader30.1
+10.9
1992NBA Champion80
Gary Payton 19.2
199882

Season 9

Points per gameYearGames
Michael Jordan Scoring leader32.6
+10.9
1993NBA Champion78
Gary Payton 21.7
199950

Season 10

Points per gameYearGames
Michael Jordan 26.9
+2.7
199517
Gary Payton 24.2
200082

Season 11

Points per gameYearGames
Michael Jordan Scoring leader30.4
+7.3
1996NBA Champion82
Gary Payton 23.1
200179

Season 12

Points per gameYearGames
Michael Jordan Scoring leader29.6
+7.5
1997NBA Champion82
Gary Payton 22.1
200282

Season 13

Points per gameYearGames
Michael Jordan Scoring leader28.7
+8.3
1998NBA Champion82
Gary Payton 20.4
200380

Season 14

Points per gameYearGames
Michael Jordan 22.9
+8.3
200260
Gary Payton 14.6
200482

Season 15

Points per gameYearGames
Michael Jordan 20.0
+8.7
200382
Gary Payton 11.3
200577

Gary Payton's additional seasons:

* Gary Payton played 2 seasons more than Michael Jordan in the NBA.

In those years—his seasons 16 to 17, from 2006 to 2007—he averaged 6.6 points in a total of 149 regular season games.

Playoffs

Rookie Season

Points per gameYearGames
Michael Jordan 29.3
+24.5
19854
Gary Payton 4.8
19915

Season 2

Points per gameYearGames
Michael Jordan 43.7
+36.1
19863
Gary Payton 7.6
19928

Season 3

Points per gameYearGames
Michael Jordan 35.7
+23.4
19873
Gary Payton 12.3
199319

Season 4

Points per gameYearGames
Michael Jordan 36.3
+20.5
198810
Gary Payton 15.8
19945

Season 5

Points per gameYearGames
Michael Jordan 34.8
+17.0
198917
Gary Payton 17.8
19954

Season 6

Points per gameYearGames
Michael Jordan 36.7
+16.0
199016
Gary Payton 20.7
199621

Season 7

Points per gameYearGames
Michael Jordan 31.1
+7.3
1991NBA Champion17
Gary Payton 23.8
199712

Season 8

Points per gameYearGames
Michael Jordan 34.5
+10.5
1992NBA Champion22
Gary Payton 24.0
199810

Season 9

Points per gameYearGames
Michael Jordan 35.1
+35.1
1993NBA Champion19
Gary Payton -
DNP
19990

Season 10

Points per gameYearGames
Michael Jordan 31.5
+5.7
199510
Gary Payton 25.8
20005

Season 11

Points per gameYearGames
Michael Jordan 30.7
+30.7
1996NBA Champion18
Gary Payton -
DNP
20010

Season 12

Points per gameYearGames
Michael Jordan 31.1
+8.9
1997NBA Champion19
Gary Payton 22.2
20025

Season 13

Points per gameYearGames
Michael Jordan 32.4
+13.9
1998NBA Champion21
Gary Payton 18.5
20036

Season 14

Points per gameYearGames
Michael Jordan -
DNP
20020
Gary Payton 7.8
+7.8
200422

Season 15

Points per gameYearGames
Michael Jordan -
DNP
20030
Gary Payton 10.3
+10.3
20057

Gary Payton's additional Playoffs:

* During his 2 additional NBA seasons, Gary Payton played in two Playoffs and won one NBA Championship. In those postseasons he averaged 5.3 points in a total of 25 games.

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