Few players in the NBA had a greater impact on the defensive side of the ball than Gary Payton. The Glove earned that moniker for a reason. In his 17 seasons, most with the Seattle Supersonics, he was named to nine All-Defensive First Teams and was the 1995-1996 DPOY.
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Despite his incredible play, Payton only ever earned one trip to the NBA Finals with Seattle, and that was in 96 against Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls. The powerhouse Chi-Town squad took a commanding 3-0 series lead over the Sonics, which put Payton and the rest of his team on life support.
A change needed to be made if they wanted to survive and make it competitive. And the Glove knew what it needed to be. The first three games Payton was dealing with a calf injury and wasn’t in proper condition to guard MJ. But that changed in Game 4.
“Let me guard him,” recalled Payton during a recent interview on the Club 520 podcast. It was a gutsy change, but one that had to me made considering His Airness was averaging 33 points per game.
“And then I started making it a pest for him,” GP said. “I started making it a pest for him. I broke it down to 23. And then what coaches do? They knew I was starting to become a problem. They had to solve the problem.”
Payton then claimed that he had really gotten under MJ’s skin by this point, especially after the Sonics took Game 5 to push the series 3-2. “Jordan was taking it personal with me, which I wanted to happen.”
But one must remember that the Bulls didn’t just have the GOAT player. They had a GOAT coach, something GP took note of when speaking about what happened next in the series. “Then Phil Jackson said, ‘Naw let me put somebody bigger on him and strike him and make him a problem for him. And he put Pippen on me. And Pippen is a bigger player than me.'”
That move ended up closing the curtains on the Sonics’ potential magical comeback. GP was tired. “It was taking a toll on me,” he stated. “It was taking a real toll on me to try to score, and guard Jordan at the same time.”
It really should be a credit to Jackson. A more passionate, or quick-tempered coach would have assumed that his best player could eventually outperform the opposing team’s best defender. But Jackson was the “Zen Master.” He knew that simple scheme change was necessary. So he made it, and won another ring because of it.
Regardless of what Payton says, Jordan never was worried about The Glove
This isn’t the first time that Payton has claimed his passionate play in the 1996 NBA Finals got into Michael Jordan’s head. Fortunately, one of the greatest sports documentaries of all time shows how MJ actually felt about the Glove.
In the 2020 masterpiece The Last Dance, Jordan reacted to a clip of GP stating that he was “tiring him out.” “It took a toll on Mike,” said Payton in the 2020 Emmy-winning doc.
Jordan famously laughed at the iPad he was watching that had Payton on it, then made bulgy eyes that have been used as a meme ever since. “The Glove,” said the GOAT with a hint of pity in his voice. “I had no problem with The Glove. I had other things on my mind at the time.”
That point of The Last Dance highlighted the death of his father, James, and how emotional MJ was after knocking off the Sonics and winning his fourth NBA Championship. Jordan would finish that series with 27.3 PPG, and would earn his fourth NBA Finals MVP.
It’s always fun to see this short-lived rivalry brought back up in the current age of basketball. Payton is still an all-time great. But Michael Jordan is Michael Jordan. No amount of “wearing him down” or “tiring him out” would ever work. Ask the “Bad Boy” Pistons. Eventually, MJ just finds a way.
