Tim Hardaway vs. Gary Payton: Career Scoring Comparison

We break down the scoring legacies of Gary Payton and Tim Hardaway 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.

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

By taking a look at their career numbers for points, the first conclusion one can arrive at is that Tim Hardaway 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 13 NBA regular seasons played, Tim Hardaway averages 1.4 points more than Gary Payton in his 17 seasons (17.7 points against 16.3). On the other hand Gary Payton scored a total of 6,440 points more than Tim Hardaway (21,813 vs. 15,373).

Points Per Game

Seasons
Tim Hardaway 17.7
+1.4
13
Gary Payton 16.3
17

Total Points

Seasons
Tim Hardaway 15,373
13
Gary Payton 21,813
+6,440
17

Points in the Playoffs

Similar to what happens in the regular season, in the NBA postseason Tim Hardaway has a better career point average than Gary Payton (+2.8 points per game) while Gary Payton scored more points (+1,212).

Points Per Game

Playoffs
Tim Hardaway 16.8
+2.8
9
Gary Payton 14.0
15

Total Points

Playoffs
Tim Hardaway 943
9
Gary Payton 2,155
+1,212
15

Points by Thresholds

Regular Season

40+ Point Games

Tim Hardaway 5
Gary Payton 6
+1

30+ Point Games

Tim Hardaway 62
Gary Payton 76
+14

20+ Point Games

Tim Hardaway 360
Gary Payton 515
+155

10+ Point Games

Tim Hardaway 719
Gary Payton 1,035
+316

1+ Point Games (games with points)

Tim Hardaway 853
Gary Payton 1,304
+451

0 Point Games (games without points)

Tim Hardaway 14
Gary Payton 31
+17

Playoffs

30+ Point Games

Tim Hardaway 7
+2
Gary Payton 5

20+ Point Games

Tim Hardaway 24
Gary Payton 47
+23

10+ Point Games

Tim Hardaway 42
Gary Payton 92
+50

1+ Point Games (games with points)

Tim Hardaway 53
Gary Payton 150
+97

0 Point Games (games without points)

Tim Hardaway 3
Gary Payton 4
+1

Career Shooting Stats Comparison

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Regular Season

Stats Per Game

Pts FGM / A% 3PM / A% FTM / A% Yrs Gms
Tim Hardaway 17.7 6.5 15.1 43.1 1.8 5.0 35.5 2.9 3.8 78.2 13 867
difference:+1.4+1.1+3.4+1.0+2.3+3.8+0.5+0.4+5.3+4+468
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
Tim Hardaway 15,373 5,640 13,076 43.1 1,542 4,345 35.5 2,551 3,263 78.2 13 867
difference:+6,440+3,068+5,622+3.4+410+775+3.8+714+1,217+5.3+4+468
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
Tim Hardaway 16.8 5.9 14.9 39.3 2.0 6.1 32.0 3.1 4.2 75.1 9 56
difference:+2.8+0.3+2.3+4.8+1.1+3.3+0.5+1.1+1.4+4.5+6+98
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
Tim Hardaway 943 329 837 39.3 110 344 32.0 175 233 75.1 9 56
difference:+1,212+526+1,101+4.8+27+91+0.5+133+203+4.5+6+98
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

NBA Champion = NBA Champion

Regular Season

Rookie Season

Points per gameYearGames
Tim Hardaway 14.7
+7.5
199079
Gary Payton 7.2
199182

Season 2

Points per gameYearGames
Tim Hardaway 22.9
+13.5
199182
Gary Payton 9.4
199281

Season 3

Points per gameYearGames
Tim Hardaway 23.4
+9.9
199281
Gary Payton 13.5
199382

Season 4

Points per gameYearGames
Tim Hardaway 21.5
+5.0
199366
Gary Payton 16.5
199482

Season 5

Points per gameYearGames
Tim Hardaway 20.1
199562
Gary Payton 20.6
+0.5
199582

Season 6

Points per gameYearGames
Tim Hardaway 15.2
199680
Gary Payton 19.3
+4.1
199681

Season 7

Points per gameYearGames
Tim Hardaway 20.3
199781
Gary Payton 21.8
+1.5
199782

Season 8

Points per gameYearGames
Tim Hardaway 18.9
199881
Gary Payton 19.2
+0.3
199882

Season 9

Points per gameYearGames
Tim Hardaway 17.4
199948
Gary Payton 21.7
+4.3
199950

Season 10

Points per gameYearGames
Tim Hardaway 13.4
200052
Gary Payton 24.2
+10.8
200082

Season 11

Points per gameYearGames
Tim Hardaway 14.9
200177
Gary Payton 23.1
+8.2
200179

Season 12

Points per gameYearGames
Tim Hardaway 9.6
200268
Gary Payton 22.1
+12.5
200282

Season 13

Points per gameYearGames
Tim Hardaway 9.6
200268
Gary Payton 20.4
+10.8
200380

Season 14

Points per gameYearGames
Tim Hardaway 4.9
200310
Gary Payton 14.6
+9.7
200482

Gary Payton's additional seasons:

* Gary Payton played 3 seasons more than Tim Hardaway 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

Rookie Season

Points per gameYearGames
Tim Hardaway -
DNP
19900
Gary Payton 4.8
+4.8
19915

Season 2

Points per gameYearGames
Tim Hardaway 25.2
+17.6
19919
Gary Payton 7.6
19928

Season 3

Points per gameYearGames
Tim Hardaway 24.5
+12.2
19924
Gary Payton 12.3
199319

Season 4

Points per gameYearGames
Tim Hardaway -
DNP
19930
Gary Payton 15.8
+15.8
19945

Season 5

Points per gameYearGames
Tim Hardaway -
DNP
19950
Gary Payton 17.8
+17.8
19954

Season 6

Points per gameYearGames
Tim Hardaway 17.7
19963
Gary Payton 20.7
+3.0
199621

Season 7

Points per gameYearGames
Tim Hardaway 18.7
199717
Gary Payton 23.8
+5.1
199712

Season 8

Points per gameYearGames
Tim Hardaway 26.0
+2.0
19985
Gary Payton 24.0
199810

Season 9

Points per gameYearGames
Tim Hardaway 9.0
+9.0
19995
Gary Payton -
DNP
19990

Season 10

Points per gameYearGames
Tim Hardaway 7.7
20007
Gary Payton 25.8
+18.1
20005

Season 11

Points per gameYearGames
Tim Hardaway 2.5
+2.5
20012
Gary Payton -
DNP
20010

Season 12

Points per gameYearGames
Tim Hardaway -
DNP
20020
Gary Payton 22.2
+22.2
20025

Season 13

Points per gameYearGames
Tim Hardaway -
DNP
20020
Gary Payton 18.5
+18.5
20036

Season 14

Points per gameYearGames
Tim Hardaway 3.3
20034
Gary Payton 7.8
+4.5
200422

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.