NBA Legends Explain How Gary Payton Destroyed His Opponents

#garypayton #shawnkemp #michaeljordan
NBA Legends explain how good Gary Payton really was.
Gary Payton was a beast playing with shawn kemp for the seattle super sonics.
In 1991-92 the Sonics had a respectable 47-35 record and finished fourth in their division. In 1992-93, with Payton and Kemp assuming greater roles, the Sonics went 55-27, finished second in the Pacific division, and were one win away from making the NBA finals. The following season, the Sonics posted the best record in the NBA (63-19) and were expected to cause a stir in the postseason. However, they were stunningly upset in the first round by the Denver Nuggets.
Payton was the consummate point guard. He was able to dish the ball to Seattle’s many scorers; the lob passes he served up to Kemp for the latter’s thunderous slam dunks have led many to call the duo the most impressive alley-oop combo ever. The Sonics took the mighty Chicago Bulls to six games before ultimately losing in the 1996 NBA finals. Kemp left over contract issues in 1997, but Payton remained the mainstay of the Sonics after that-a perennial All-Star and the primary reason the team continued to contend for the play-offs each season. It is a testament to his all-around excellence that Payton lost his chief collaborator yet still stepped up to take on the added responsibility of being Seattle’s focal point.
During the 2002-03 season Payton was traded to the Milwaukee Bucks; the following summer he signed with the Los Angeles Lakers, joining a team so stacked with talent that it started 2003-04 as the popular favourite to win the title but ultimately fell in the 2004 NBA finals. After a stint with the Boston Celtics, Payton signed with the Miami Heat in 2005. Led by Dwyane Wade and Payton’s contemporary Shaquille O’Neal, the Heat won the NBA title in 2006, and, with a championship to cap off his legacy, Payton retired after playing an additional season with Miami. He went into the league ahead of his time and ended up setting the standard for all subsequent point guards. Payton could slash with the best, but it was his attention to passing and defense that put him up with the greats. He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2013.
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[@poet279]

The fact that the Seattle Super Sonics don't exist anymore is a tragedy.

[@joffreylandburg3427]

That's what im thinking for years now....its the team i used to love most....especially from '92 till 98....Kemp and Payton were the reason i loved the Supersonics....i truly miss that team and those ourfits

[@poet279]

@Chug Hawkins It's not the same.

[@T-W-M]

I agree Sonics much cooler than Thunder

[@pplRretards]

@@vantablack9535 well you can tell just how much anyone cares bout New Orleans just by the fact they are freaking named the Pelicans smh like wtf who the hell names their dam sports team after a Garbage Bird? Seriously tho Pelicans are literally and figuratively Garbage birds lmfao in every way possible they are trash lmfao freaking Pelicans is such a bad nickname it makes the Bobacts look like an amazing team name lmfao and not gonna lie before Charlotte got the Hornets naming rights back I was actually getting used to the Bobcats name and kinda liking it lol shit the Pelicans ownership is making the Washington Football team ownership or as newly named the Washinton Commanders look good imo smh

[@pringlized]

Amen. Lifelong Warriors fan. Love to hate it when we played the Sonics. I got to see Payton and Kemp take on The Mailman in Seattle. Crazy game. These guys were basketball gods. Seattle needs a team back.

[@79jgibbs]

Malone/Stockton vs Payton/Kemp battles in the 90's were the Best!!!!!

[@merlball8520]

Back in the day I was a hater, but as the years went by I was able to look back and appreciate how good he was. A great player who earned his reputation in the battlefield of competition. It's long past time I felt a grudging respect for his game. It's just straight up respect.

[@nathanc30]

Seattle wants it's sonics back! Thumbs up

[@bingobutler9656]

The Glove and Kemp, the dynamic duo

[@pringlized]

😀

[@Hippozippowhippo]

GARY PAYTON WITH THE LOB AHEAD TO KEMP! fav line in the intro haha

[@seanjarick6603]

NBA Jam would not have been the same without the Payton/Kemp SuperSonics !!

[@goldengun9970]

My nba jam in swag mega drive 2 didn’t have those players. Was from 1992

[@seanjarick6603]

@@goldengun9970 you are very lucky :) I could only play NBA jam at the arcade, I am not sure what year the mode was :/

[@r.lo3ding766]

Growing up I had nba hang time on my nintendo 64 and those two were over powered man..

[@grammysworld5449]

Great father too.. Gave his son the tough love he needed to get back into the league

[@79jgibbs]

truth

[@zeaferjones1404]

He's like the perfect point guard. He is tall, quick, great handles, great passer and a great shooter. Then you add his all-time great defense on top of that and he really didn't have a weakness. There have been a lot of other great point guards like John Stockton, Jason Kidd and Chris Paul but all of them have some sort of weakness that Gary Payton doesn't have. I really do think of Gary Payton as one of the greatest point guards ever and think he is underrated in a way.

[@nbafinest2775]

Plus good post up guard

[@TrahNO2]

I recently watched all the interview videos that were just uploaded with GP from VladTV. Dude has the realist personality

[@finiqulitso3878]

My absolute favorite NBA player 🙌

[@joenathangholstonjr4391]

People forget that GP was taught by "MR MEAN"". Garys dad. That he played in a era where if you talked it you better walk it!. I am a fan of the Glove & Rainman era in Seattle

[@pringlized]

Just watched a Larry Bird doc. I totally forget Payton talked mad shit. Reggie Miller was always the biggest mouth that I knew.

[@eburonson]

Sean, thanks for always showing GP the love he deserves!

[@pringlized]

I so miss watching GP. Even when he was destroying my Warriors.

[@79jgibbs]

absolutely great player and very humble as well. People dont see that side of GP

[@PianoBruce]

Totally think Gary Payton is overlooked a lot of times, he was great on both ends of the floor too. That trash talk though!

[@zeaferjones1404]

It's weird because I think he is underrated. I think he should be mentioned when people are talking about the greatest point guards of all time. Sure, Magic might have won more but if it's a game between prime Magic vs prime Gary Payton I might go with Gary Payton.

[@HeatherRadcliffe-pb1vj]

🤡🤡 so what's your argument for him exactly?...​@@zeaferjones1404

[@kas1755]

No one talks about it today but during his career there was a lot of talk about how physically strong Gary was.

[@jhnmon88]

His offensive game get slept on 20-24ppg in his prime. That basically translate into 30 in today's game.

[@HolyPire]

I am still playing the 95 Sonics in nba2k.... allwas a boom ... cause payton to kemp is unstopable

[@zeaferjones1404]

I used to always pick Gary Payton in video games back in the day. The thing is Stockton's greatness doesn't translate to video games because he'd have to be the one controlling the character. While Gary Payton being 6'5, quick and a great shooter is the perfect point guard to control.

[@Joeldelliott]

I grew up in the eastern half of the US, so we didn't hear much about the Western Conference, but I always love a player who plays good defense.

[@swaggyz3]

Its so easy to follow teams nowadays . My favorite team is the Chicago bulls an I've never been there or the East, I've lived in Colorado my whole life

[@mikerobinson6969]

People act like with hand checking and the rules of the 90s the this man couldn't guard Curry or the guards in the NBA today..a defensive first mindset spans any generation.

[@luizansounds]

If you grab GP from 1996 and put him in today's league in 8 months adapting to the new rules he would cause a lot of damage. A great defensive mind will always adapt to the rules and extract everything they can from the rulebook. If there is hand checking, they will use it, if there is not they will adapt and play without that edge but find something else to use in their advantage

[@thehistory5401]

Curry would come off the bench in the 90s

[@alexandrossimitzis146]

Gary Payton was great, but my favorite Supersonic of all time is Shawn Kemp. And he doesn't get the recognition he deserves. To me, he shoulda been in the HOF a very long time ago!

[@leonardoyi3183]

he doesn't get the recognition because he doesn't deserve it. Kemp was hyper athletic, very good on defense and a monster on transition. Good ball handling for his size, but his shooting is very suspect. Wasn't a great or elite scorer, couldn't carry the franchise as their best player. No Mvps. No all NBA First team. No championships. Kemp equivalent in this era is probably Blake Griffin.

[@alexandrossimitzis146]

@@leonardoyi3183 I think he was a good midrange shooter, and a good free throw shooter, and maybe he woulda been a good 3 point shooter, but back then big men, usually wouldn't shoot the 3, as chucking up 3 pointers wasn't the in thing back then.

[@leonardoyi3183]

@@alexandrossimitzis146 most of kemp work was around the basket. If you watch his highlights, 98% of his highlights are dunks, basket's around 3 feet of the basket and athletic blocks. He was a decent free throw shooter, not a good one, he was never an 80% shooter. And his shot between 3 and 10 ft is probably "decent", not good. You wouldn't want kemp to shoot anywhere outside of 3 ft if your game depended on that shot.

[@alexandrossimitzis146]

@@leonardoyi3183 Actually, I saw plenty of Shawn Kemp's entire games, because I was born in 77, started fowllowing and playing basketball in the mid 80s, so I got the chance to follow Shawn Kemp's (and everybody else's NBA and Euroleague career) from that point and onwards. In his prime he averaged like 17-18 points but damn, they were explosive points, because a lot of them came from ferocious dunks. But he also had a nice midrange, good free throw shooter, great handles for a big, could play defense, (his rejections were spectacular) he could rebound, and to me, in his prime he had the total package. Until he had problems with alcohol, and drugs and stuff. The dude was definite HOF material.

[@AB_n_C]

Shawn Kemp problem is that he was only good for few seasons and went out of shape quick. He is a 1 hit wonder. And without Gary Payton, Shawn Kemp kinda sucked.

[@ja8914]

Can you make a video showing the nba all star games in the 80’s and 90’s vs the all stars now. I feel like everything was more competitive back in the days.

[@eyestoseefe7618]

Men were still men

[@mgmoehn]

Love the videos man keep em coming. One of my other favorite sonic players to watch was Hersey Hawkins... how about some love for the Hawk!

[@lucky889s9]

And nate mcmillan was one of mine

[@StrehDawg]

My favorite player.

[@stonenegron]

Greatest PG of all time

[@Lukasz_G]

Payton is one of my most favorite players of all time, but to be the best he should have more assists.

[@eburonson]

Magic is my favorite player but GP is my favorite point guard of all time!

[@eyestoseefe7618]

Payton was a monster

[@eddieG667]

BTM - since you're a 90s guy, please do more on Penny Hardaway and Grant Hill. Maybe even the Nick Van Excel Lakers who sent 4 players to the all star game one season. Love your content!

[@xandersage6994]

Man I can't believe this is on of the few times he actually DUNKED!!😱

[@rosshosking2174]

The glove is easily my favorite player of all time

[@marcelolopezchavez8524]

Hey you see how start with a still and a dunk vs the great Mj this guy was D glove 🥊

[@dm3355]

Love your interpretation brotha Big up from Israel

[@neilescolar11]

I was working in sac in maybe 2010 and Gary came in with a whole bunch of other NBA stars and I think I was drunk or something, but if I was heckling u Gary my bad... If it's any consolation I always would play as you and Shawn Kemp in the original NBA jam

[@bingobutler9656]

Loved going to the Colosium to watch the Glove

[@nbafinest2775]

That fucking Sonics uniform still looks amazing.

[@zachgates7491]

Should be a video on the SuperSonics and their search for a Shaq Stopper. Signing Jim McIlvaine led to Shawn Kemp leaving in the Vin Baker trade. If Kemp’s private life had been different, the team might still be around.

[@PianoBruce]

I legit think he gave MJ some problems Yano, I know he laughs it off but that’s just MJ being MJ

[@Seattle808]

I miss my Sonics, I haven’t watched the NBA since they left

[@amandusvonborstel7515]

The GLOVE

[@slanderman3296]

Schrempf deserves a video

[@leeplunkett-py2xe]

Schrempf was soooooooo good.

[@bigwig8657]

I miss those Sonics so much

[@eddieG667]

they looked unstoppable and then next thing I realize they're getting upset in the 1st round and by the young Lakers.

[@bstove24]

@@eddieG667 I'm assuming you're talking about the 97-98 season and that was the western conference semifinals.

[@eddieG667]

@@bstove24 it was in the early 90s. They got knocked off as the #1 seed and later got knocked off by the Lakers. In many ways, I just don't think that was a team built for the playoffs as they didn't have much down the stretch for tight games.

[@derekdurham8829]

I love it when the show isn't about MJ

[@-ac-8296]

amen

[@hgr.7857]

AI's offense & 💛 + Payton's defense + Vince Carter's electric dunks, maybe package it all in Davis Robinson's perfect Greek god-like body = 🐐 kinda like Kobe 🤷🏼 (Edit: Or MJ) The 90s & early 2000s was an absolute Golden Era for the NBA⭐

[@SinnerStance]

If you haven’t already can you do a Stephon Marbury episode or perhaps best duos like marbury/garnett, kemp/payton, mj/pippen, penny/shaq..

[@zeaferjones1404]

Stephon Marbury reminds me a lot of Gilbert Arenas. At their peak you could argue they were two of the greatest of all time. One player that I think is criminally underrated that didn't quite have the peak of those two but had a more consistent career was Chauncy Billups. I don't think he was as dynamic as Gary Payton but he was similar to Gary Payton in that he was a big point guard that could do it all while also playing great defense.

[@eugenedantzler4485]

GP is my second favorite point PG of all time.

[@MrRETROPSY]

Was my favourite player in the 90s.

[@samuelmaat4148]

GP that dude, talked all that mess, but MJ laughed about his defense in the 96 Finals

[@BobsDPOY]

About time glove getting his flowers!

[@0fficialdregs]

he's the tupac of point guards

[@columben7272]

Hey Sean, can you do a review of the series Winning Time : The rise of the Lakers dynasty

[@marcelolopezchavez8524]

The glove … man unique player en old nba

[@datanyc004]

The "Glove" rules.... He helped the sport in many ways.... I was pissed when Seattle sold the Sonics but I am not going to talk about Washington states ethics. I remember when I was a freshman at my University and had on the Nike Glove's.... They were dope and no one on campus had them yet (New York City fashion rules: Be the first with those kicks [Sneakers]) and I would get questioned a lot or stared at. The players in the NBA have a global effect.... I experienced it....

[@crash8729]

The Glove is the man.

[@bkdsog]

I still believe a couple of those payton led sonics teams of the 90's, coulda, woulda shoulda won championships. 🏆

[@wealth_wolf]

94 😢

[@thomasbridges7323]

Before al as watching him a pest love old school ball and this is 2022

[@michaeltrenier]

🧤

[@billycalibretv]

It would be nice to have a part on this video Shaq actually saying what the thubmnail says, its disappointing to try to find Shaq talking somewhere in the video and there's nowhere to find him saying those words

[@J-man1017]

I was at the game in Tacoma when they were building key arena we had the "Tacoma Supes" for a year I see the t dome everyday wish they would've just moved them here and updated the dome instead of losing our franchise! But, we got our arena ready 2 years till us and Vegas get teams. Man we had Westbrook, harden,and Durant the year they left smh

[@OH_MY_DOGGG]

I think Payton wanted to win. But he'd go hard anyways.

[@P_J1434]

That’s Jrue holiday without trash talk

[@skjor1989]

Garry and Coousins is so much a like, Garry won't be able to thrive in todays Soft NBA era. He will get tech's like it is just normal foul

[@UFOsAreRealArea51]

I have Gary Payton at the 2 spot because i have Isiah Thomas at the 1 spot. I know he's a point guard but i have both on my all time starting 5. LeBron James at the 3 spot , Shawn Kemp at the 4 spot and Wilt Chamberlain at the 5 spot. I have a tenacious backcourt defense with Isiah Thomas and Gary Payton. Gary Payton to Shawn Kemp... alley oops non stop. Wilt Chamberlain a center that can run the full court press with all 4 of my other starting 5. Lebron James easily gets the triple doubles with these 4 players around him. Isiah Thomas gets rings regardless of the talent around him. My all time starting 5 would take others starting 5 to the cleaners....lmao 💯😎

[@slanderman3296]

Damn, grant hill has aged FINE AS HELL. I got a wife, but he is handsome. Rick fox esque.

[@hparas1]

You gay?

[@Biggmofo]

LoL 😂

[@zenzombie72]

All-time top 5 point guard?

[@zeaferjones1404]

I think definitely. I actually put him number 2 behind Magic. No other point guard has been able to do everything like Gary Payton because I'd argue as big as Jason Kidd and Magic were nobody really guarded them on the outside. Stockton and Chris Paul can shoot but they are small compared to Gary Payton. Isiah Thomas is up there but once again Gary Payton being 6'4 to Isiah's 6'1 allows him to guard shooting guards and is a match up nightmare for point guards.

[@scorpiothegreat1]

Close. Magic, Oscar Robinson, Curry, Stockton, Isaiah, then a toss up between Kidd and Payton.

[@noneyabizz8337]

Jordan is still salty about this man

[@jasonhearn5818]

not really MJ was still MJ but 96-98 MJ was on the decline and didn't have the same athleticism as his younger self MJ was 33 and GP was also 5 or six years younger ...GP even called out MJ not being the MJ of old in an interview during the 95-96 season which was true

[@UFOsAreRealArea51]

PG Isiah Thomas SG Gary Payton SF Lebron James PF Shawn Kemp C Wilt Chamberlain

[@thomasbridges7323]

Bully guard hood dude

[@animeguitarguy]

I put GP in the top 10 PGS

[@ibangarcia4257]

Grande payton pasión.

[@gseric4721]

*Young bloods:* _"5 Curry's would _*_destroy_*_ 5 Gary Paytons"_ *Me:* So, uh...do you really want to see what would actually happen? 😶

[@cookiesdays4956]

First lob city #20#40

[@Trey7105]

GP was him!

[@abdulsmith1569]

GP

[@vernonhurley1300]

Great player but still take stockton as best point guard ever. Loved the sonics mis them. Northwesterner here.

[@anadromous9200]

You couldn’t drive past him in your car

[@T-W-M]

Imagine if the league stayed this way. Shit extra soft these days

[@travispetrie6647]

J kidd super unbearable in that interview

[@dinodigger8807]

Payton and players like him would shut down Stef or any weak era player today easily. Todays league is pathetic

[@kennywise237]

And never won a Title

[@dirtyintel5668]

I am a sonics fan. Always will be. The NBA is dead.

[@dirtyintel5668]

And Gary Payton is my favorite Super Sonic. Payton and Kemp led such a great and exciting team, it was awesome to witness.

[@rogercobbs4297]

Gary you lucky I never played against you, you can t stop a dead eye jumper, 30 foot turn around jumper, now stop that

[@leeplunkett-py2xe]

Mike Tyson was probably lucky that he didn't have to box you in his prime too. You are a legend.

[@hparas1]

Gary Payton was so overrated. He stopped playing defense when Kemp left and was a passing point guard trying to be a scorer for the majority of his career He never was a pure shooter, scorer and was a choke artist in big games. If he played like he did when he played with Kemp, he would be a top 5 point guard of all time. Now he falls out of the top 10 thinking he was this offense dynamite.

[@tommurphy2746]

Gary Payton offensively grestly improved his game through the years. When he first came in the league he really couldn't shoot from the perimeter. But as every year went by, he just kept getting better. By the late 90s estly 2000s, Gary Payton was a grest offensive player. Arguably the best low post player of any guard I ever saw. Almost unstoppable in the post when he reached his peak in the late 90s, early 2000s. Also, his perimeter and 3 pt shooting improved greatly from when he first came in the league in 1990. In 2000 I think it was, he had 47 pts against the Lakers I think and he didn't even play in the 4th quarter. He also had a streak where he scored 20 or more pts in 30 some games in a row. When Gary played for the Miami Heat he was way past his prime and took on a supporting role to the younger players on that team. But in his prime for about 6 or 7 seasons, Payton was an awesome offensive player and averaged around 24.5 pts one year and for about 7 or 8 straight seasonss averaged above 20 pts

[@hparas1]

@@tommurphy2746 wrong. His career high was 44 points against the T-Wolves in overtime. He also had ONLY 6 total 40 point games in his career, which means for a guy who dominated the ball, he did not have enough assist or points, which means he was not an efficient offensive player. His 3 point percentage slightly improved when they brought the 3 point line closer in the late 90's. When they brought it back to normal distance a few years later, his 3 point percentage went back to an awful 30%. I will always remember Gary getting his ass kicked by Chauncey Billups in the NBA finals. His defense, as Magic Johnson described it, was getting "chewed up". Payton's ugly shooting form was also exposed this series as he could never play off the ball, and he couldn't play with a dominant big man like Shaq since his game was all about post ups. He was what he was: a big mouth who never led a team to a title and stopped being the glove on defense when Kemp left. In his first 9 years, he averaged 2.5 steals altogether whereas he NEVER averaged more than 2 steals in a season after year 1999.

[@tommurphy2746]

@@hparas1 Yeah, You're right. I was just going off memory. It must have been the 43 pt game or one of the other 40 pt games because he didn't finish at least most of the 4th qtr. He had 9 straight seasons averaging 19.3 to 24.2 pts per game and averaging between 8 assists and 9.1 per game. He was a 9-time all defensive team selection and all around one of top point guards in NBA history. Gary Payton was well past his prime when he played with the Lakers in 2003-04. Gary, when playing for the Lakers and Heat was 35 and 36 years old and those two teams were stacked teams that didn't need him to score and he did not look to score. When he was with the Heat, he came off the bench. You're opinion on Gary Payton is totally inaccurate because, being a Sonics fan in Seattle I watched him play and he looked better in person than even his great stats point out. That 9 year stretch I pointed out is up their with all-time great point guards...although he definitely was not in the same league as the great Oscar Robertson or Magic Johnson. But I would put him in the top 5 to 7 point guards ever. I can tell You're a Gary Payton hater...had nothing positive to say about him. First ballot Hall-Of-Famer and on the 75th Anniversary All-time NBA Team, recognized by the experts as one of the All-time greats. Ex players like Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O'neal, Jason Kidd, John Stockton and many other ex players that played against Gary Payton have talked about how great he was. You're the only person I have ever encountered that has all this negativity towards him. Gary Payton definitely does not need your approval as he has already the approval of his peers and the Hall-of-fame as one of the all-time greats. Also, Patons 9-time All-Defensive Team is tied with Michael Jordan for number one all-time. Not too bad for an overrated player.

[@hparas1]

@@tommurphy2746 i grew up a sonics fan as well and Gary Payton made much more of a team impact when he focused on defense and passing ala his first 8 years. Again look at the stats: when his 2.5 steals per game averaged dropped below 2 steals, his points per game increased which showed me that he became a much different player, a selfish offensive oriented player. Again, you never addressed that he only shot 30 percent from three for his career, his dismal performance against the Pistons, and that Gary became a completely different player his second half of his career. His prime ended when Kemp left. Anything after that, he was nothing more than a selfish player dominating the ball, relying on his reputation as a hard nosed player to compensate for his defensive laziness. The stats do not lie, it showed two completely different players: address that. I am not hating, a lot of the respect Gary got was because of his first 9 years in the league, hustling on defense. He was NOT the glove by his 10th year: his defense was just awful.

[@tommurphy2746]

@@hparas1 Also, you said he only had only six 40 plus scoring games and said for a guy that dominated the ball he wasn't very efficient. First of all, how many point guards even score 40 plus points in an NBA game. Magic Johnson hardly ever scored 40 in a game. John Stockton, I don't remember him ever even once scoring 40 in a game, although he may have. Defensively, Gary Paytons defense slipped, like you said, around the 2000 season. His age, along with him being a much better offensive player at that point in his career, he had to carry a Sonics team that would win about 40-45 games in those later years. Because he did take on much more of an offensive load in addition to his declining defensive skills, mostly attributed to his age. I would agree that he was never going to feel comfortable playing as the off-guard or shooting guard. When I watched him in the finals, with the Lakers in 2004, he did not look like the same player I watched when he was with the Sonics. If you look at steals for guards in the NBA, you'll notice that all of them once they reach there tenth season and beyond, their steals per game significantly goes down. It's called aging and that happens to all players. Gary still averaged around 1.5 steals per game after that. So his decline was typical of an aging player in his 30s. Although, his last couple of years in his career were of more of a role player...and I was sad to see that. He probably should have retired after the 2004 season, but he was still chasing a ring, That's why he chose to play for the Heat.