John Wall Is Working With Gary Payton

John Wall is a tremendous talent and is clearly the face of the Washington Wizards franchise. Franchise players need to do whatever it takes to elevate themselves individually so they could in turn elevate that same team to new found greatness. Wall is taking the necessary steps to take the Wizards to the playoffs and beyond by working with Seattle Supersonics great and defensive stalwart Gary “The Glove” Payton. Wall has been working hard to improve his jump shot and stated the following about what he is doing to fine tune it “Footwork also, just like catching the ball and working on pivots and stuff”

All that is great but Wall wants to do something very similar to what Payton used to do in his playing days which is posting up. At 6’4 195 pounds Walls body is very similar to Payton’s 6’4 190 pounds. Wall like Payton isn’t the best shooter but his body for a point guard should allow him to post up and use his physicality to create higher percentage shots for both himself and his teammates on the Wizards. Wall unlike Payton though posses elite athleticism and explosion to the rim so a post game will open up a whole new dimension to his game that would greatly benefit the Wizards.

John Wall is adamant about building something in Washington and not jumping ship to go play somewhere else. “My main thing as a person, I’m not a follower. I like to be a leader”. This guy is a premier talent and if  he finds that defensive stopper mentality within himself then the Wizards have something very special to sell tickets around. Wall is the Wizards and after signing a max deal for the next 5 years getting paid 80 Million dollars. “I feel like I would have had the opportunity to go anywhere. Wall respects his peers but isn’t about fraternizing saying “I feel like I’d be a follower trying to build a legacy somewhere else. I feel like I’m a person who gives my word and my commitment to where I started and that’s where I’d like to finish”

So he isn’t going to take his talents to South Beach to play for the Heat nor is he interested in getting his jersey retired at the Staples Center. For John Wall it’s about hanging banners at the Verizon Center in Washington and building a legacy with his own footsteps. So Working with Payton is going to help Wall do what most Point guards are afraid to do and that’s play defense.

 

Tru School Of Kicks: Nike Air Jordan 1 "Sonics"

It seems that no matter what the color combination is that the Nike Air Jordan 1 model seems to stand the test of time. With the Sonics Colorway it is no different. For the Key Arena faithful who bleed green and yellow these should certainly allow them to take pride as they always do in Sonics Greats like Gary Payton, Shawn Kemp, Gus Williams and Jack Sikma. If you happen to be a Sonics fan and love sneakers then these are a must buy for you. If you want to proudly wear the pride of Seattle's colors on your feet then look no further then these coming out in July. By the way bring the Sonics back the NBA is just plain weird without them.

Gary Payton: Most Complete Point Guard Ever

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 1^st 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.

Throwback Thrusday: Reebok Classics

Dee Brown

90’s Basketball oh what joy the 1990’s brought to basketball fans. From Michael Jordan to big daddy kane like high top fades to John Stockton’s  basketball short’s this decade had many different symbols and representation. When you think 90’s NBA Basketball you think of the Chicago Bulls, NBA Jam and the Reebok Pumps. This shoe ushered in a new era of Basketball when released in 1989.

Worn by the likes of Shawn Kemp, Dominique Wilkins and Shaq the Reebok Pumps are one of the best representation’s of the NBA at that time. The rim shattering dunks from the “Rain man” and Dee Brown really made the pumps a hit. The shoes featured a button that said “pump” on it and when you would hit push it at a rapid pace it would increase air pressure in your shoe and make it a lot tighter creating a much better feel while playing on the court. No other shoe before or after was like the Reebok Pump it gave the brand an identity and in many ways represented a whole generation and the basketball they watched in that time span.  Who could forget the 1991 NBA Slam Dunk contest where Dee Brown of the Boston Celtics covered his eyes while dunking a basketball while wearing the Reebok pump Omni‘s . That Dunk made Reeboks a household name. Even in 2003 when John Cena was just breaking into the WWE as a wrestler he regularly sported the Pumps and embraced them.

Shawn kemp

Shaq

After the the 90’s for the company and the shoe they continued to push the pump by signing Allen Iverson to a lifetime contract in 2001.The then Philadelphia Basketball star was the face of the company and he was to Reebok what Jordan was to Nike. He Along with Yao Ming were the 2 cover boy’s for Reebok in the early 2000’s. A.I Reeboks for me as a kid were always the one pair of shoes I always wanted being the fan that I was of Allen. Although the company has re-released some throwback A.I’s

and signed Wizards Guard John Wall the company hasn’t seen the kind of success they did in the 90’s and early 2000’s. So every time you see a Pair of Pumps and get that ever so nostalgic feeling just know that they are a fashion statement and not your everyday B-Ball shoes.

Allen Iverson

Yao Ming