Steve Nash vs. Chris Paul: Career Scoring Comparison
We break down the scoring legacies of Chris Paul and Steve Nash 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
Chris Paul is among the NBA's all-time leaders in points and here we compare his scoring stats with those recorded by Steve Nash.
By taking a look at their career numbers for points, the first conclusion one can arrive at is that Chris Paul has better scoring stats than Steve Nash 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: |
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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 20 NBA regular seasons played, Chris Paul averages 2.7 points more than Steve Nash in his 18 seasons (17.0 points against 14.3), and he also scored a total of 5,624 points more (23,011 vs. 17,387).
Points Per Game | Seasons | ||
| Steve Nash | 14.3 | 18 | |
| Chris Paul | 17.0 | +2.7 | 20 |
Total Points | Seasons | ||
| Steve Nash | 17,387 | 18 | |
| Chris Paul | 23,011 | +5,624 | 20 |
Points in the Playoffs
Similar to what happens in the regular season, in the NBA postseason Chris Paul has a better career point average than Steve Nash (+2.7 points per game) and he also scored more points (+909).
Points Per Game | Playoffs | ||
| Steve Nash | 17.3 | 12 | |
| Chris Paul | 20.0 | +2.7 | 15 |
Total Points | Playoffs | ||
| Steve Nash | 2,072 | 12 | |
| Chris Paul | 2,981 | +909 | 15 |
Points by Thresholds
Regular Season
20+ Point Games | ||||
| Steve Nash | 309 | |||
| Chris Paul | 472 | +163 | ||
10+ Point Games | ||||
| Steve Nash | 875 | |||
| Chris Paul | 1,133 | +258 | ||
1+ Point Games (games with points) | ||||
| Steve Nash | 1,177 | |||
| Chris Paul | 1,350 | +173 | ||
0 Point Games (games without points) | ||||
| Steve Nash | 40 | +36 | ||
| Chris Paul | 4 | |||
Playoffs
20+ Point Games | ||||
| Steve Nash | 48 | |||
| Chris Paul | 74 | +26 | ||
10+ Point Games | ||||
| Steve Nash | 103 | |||
| Chris Paul | 134 | +31 | ||
1+ Point Games (games with points) | ||||
| Steve Nash | 115 | |||
| Chris Paul | 149 | +34 | ||
0 Point Games (games without points) | ||||
| Steve Nash | 5 | +5 | ||
| Chris Paul | 0 | |||
Career Shooting Stats Comparison
Regular Season
Stats Per Game
| Pts | FGM / A | % | 3PM / A | % | FTM / A | % | Yrs | Gms | ||||
| Steve Nash | 14.3 | 5.2 | 10.6 | 49.0 | 1.4 | 3.2 | 42.8 | 2.5 | 2.8 | 90.4 | 18 | 1,217 |
| difference: | +2.7 | +0.8 | +2.2 | +2.1 | +0.5 | +5.8 | +1.1 | +1.3 | +3.3 | +2 | +137 | |
| 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 |
Total Stats
| Pts | FGM / A | % | 3PM / A | % | FTM / A | % | Yrs | Gms | ||||
| Steve Nash | 17,387 | 6,321 | 12,892 | 49.0 | 1,685 | 3,939 | 42.8 | 3,060 | 3,384 | 90.4 | 18 | 1,217 |
| difference: | +5,624 | +1,826 | +4,460 | +2.1 | +175 | +1,090 | +5.8 | +1,797 | +2,195 | +3.3 | +2 | +137 |
| 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 |
Playoffs
Stats Per Game
| Pts | FGM / A | % | 3PM / A | % | FTM / A | % | Yrs | Gms | ||||
| Steve Nash | 17.3 | 6.2 | 13.2 | 47.3 | 1.5 | 3.7 | 40.6 | 3.3 | 3.7 | 90.0 | 12 | 120 |
| difference: | +2.7 | +1.2 | +2.1 | +1.1 | +0.1 | +0.7 | +3.3 | +0.2 | +0.4 | +4.6 | +3 | +29 |
| Chris Paul | 20.0 | 7.4 | 15.3 | 48.4 | 1.6 | 4.4 | 37.3 | 3.5 | 4.1 | 85.4 | 15 | 149 |
Total Stats
| Pts | FGM / A | % | 3PM / A | % | FTM / A | % | Yrs | Gms | ||||
| Steve Nash | 2,072 | 749 | 1,584 | 47.3 | 178 | 438 | 40.6 | 396 | 440 | 90.0 | 12 | 120 |
| difference: | +909 | +357 | +703 | +1.1 | +66 | +216 | +3.3 | +129 | +175 | +4.6 | +3 | +29 |
| Chris Paul | 2,981 | 1,106 | 2,287 | 48.4 | 244 | 654 | 37.3 | 525 | 615 | 85.4 | 15 | 149 |
Year by Year Points Average Comparison
Regular Season
Chris Paul's additional seasons: | ||||
* Chris Paul played 2 seasons more than Steve Nash in the NBA. In those years—his seasons 19 to 20, from 2024 to 2025—he averaged 9.0 points in a total of 140 regular season games. |
Playoffs
Rookie Season | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Steve Nash | 1.3 | +1.3 | 1997 | 4 |
| Chris Paul | - | DNP | 2006 | 0 |
Season 2 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Steve Nash | 5.5 | +5.5 | 1998 | 4 |
| Chris Paul | - | DNP | 2007 | 0 |
Season 3 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Steve Nash | - | DNP | 1999 | 0 |
| Chris Paul | 24.1 | +24.1 | 2008 | 12 |
Season 4 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Steve Nash | - | DNP | 2000 | 0 |
| Chris Paul | 16.6 | +16.6 | 2009 | 5 |
Season 5 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Steve Nash | 13.6 | +13.6 | 2001 | 10 |
| Chris Paul | - | DNP | 2010 | 0 |
Season 13 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Steve Nash | - | DNP | 2009 | 0 |
| Chris Paul | 21.1 | +21.1 | 2018 | 15 |
Season 15 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Steve Nash | - | DNP | 2011 | 0 |
| Chris Paul | 21.3 | +21.3 | 2020 | 7 |
Season 16 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Steve Nash | - | DNP | 2012 | 0 |
| Chris Paul | 19.2 | +19.2 | 2021 | 20 |
Season 18 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Steve Nash | - | DNP | 2014 | 0 |
| Chris Paul | 12.4 | +12.4 | 2023 | 7 |
Chris Paul's additional Playoffs: | ||||
* During his 2 additional NBA seasons, Chris Paul didn't play in the postseason. |