Recently
Gary Payton was elected into the basketball Hall Of Fame and it was
more then well deserved. I Payton who is known to be the Greatest
Defensive Point Guard Of All-Time and the only one to win defensive
player of the year still may not get his just due in terms of how
great he was. I'm sure if you are sitting in a barbershop talking
basketball like many do across the country and you guys are having an
argument about who the greatest Point Guard Of All-Time is I'm sure
people will name plenty of guys who are more flashy like Magic
Johnson or Isaiah Thomas. They might name 6 or 7 guys before you hear
the name Gary Payton. They're are plenty of Great Point guards in NBA
history but is there one who is as well balanced on both sides of the
Floor as Gary Payton? In other words does the Offense matchup with
the defense.
Gary
Payton is the Most complete well balanced guard of All-time. He could
command and facilitate an offense along with scoring the basketball
and guarding your best player. GP's impact in his prime stretches far
beyond the stat sheet though. In Sports we talk about guys in sports
who have “Intangibles”, guys who do things that don't show up on
stat sheets. Gary has plenty of intangibles particularly on the
defensive side of the ball. Many guys in the NBA only excel in 1 type
of defense whether it's man to man or team defenses such as a zone
defense. Gary had the ability to excel at both and do it at an elite
level, I think Kevin Johnson said it best” You
think of guys with great hands, like Maurice Cheeks and Derek Harper.
Gary is like that. But he's also a great individual defender and a
great team defender. He has all three components covered. That's very
rare”. It's those abilities coupled with the fact that he is one of
the best trash talkers in NBA history that Make Payton's impact
stretch far beyond the stat sheet. Dominant
Center Shaquille O'Neal expressed the following about Gary's trash
talking “He Didn't care, The crazy thing was the way he was on the
court was the same way off of it”.
Payton
is a world class trash talker and knew how to get into peoples head
but there is no greater evidence this than when he took on Michael
Jordan in
Game
4 of the 1996 NBA Finals. In the first 3 games Gary didn't guard MJ
due to a calf injury but when the Bulls
took three straight Coach George Karl decided it was time for GP to
get his shot at MJ. The whole Night Gary made things tough on MJ
fronting him, Forcing turnovers and just making him work for every
little inch of offense. The result was a 6-19 inefficient 31%
shooting Night for Jordan and everybody could see Payton was in his
head. Jordan
Said this after the game about his bad night and Gary Payton Guarding
Him “No one can stop me, I can only stop myself. I missed some easy
shots “. Things
got testy in the later games with GP and MJ going face to face at
each other, Gary “The Glove” got no Love from MJ.
For
People who Like Stats Payton had those too. From 1992 to 1999 he
averaged 2 steals a more in a game which also included averaging 2.9
steals a game in 1995-1996 which was the year he became the only
Point Guard in the History of the NBA to win Defensive Player Of The
Year. He was a 9 time All-Star and made 9 straight All-NBA 1st
team for defense from 1994-2002. Then he cemented his legacy when he
won a championship with 2006 Miami Heat as a role player.
Payton
did a lot of things that no player or Point Guard has done in this
league ever. Lakers legend and Hall of Famer may have said it best
about Payton though “Probably as complete a guard as there ever
was”. Payton could talk but knew how to back it up, he feared
nobody and talked to everybody. Gary Payton is the Most well balanced
point guard of All-Time......Unless your in a barbershop.
