Gary Payton is one of the most celebrated guards of all time. A Sonics legend, Payton was seen as the best backcourt defender of his time. Standing at 6ft 4″, he wasn’t especially tall or even a shot blocker. Instead, Payton was a pesky player who would cling to an attacker like a moth to a light bulb.
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But what made it even more difficult to deal with was GP’s ability to get under a player’s skin. Gary Payton is to this day considered as one of the finest trash-talkers in history. For him, the art of talking smack held the same level as making clutch shots.
Every day, while practicing, The Glove would also practice his trash-talking. However, there were times when he crossed the line, especially with his teammates. One Lakers guard even claimed that Gary liked ruining his teammates on purpose.
Gary Payton was accused of ruining his teammates
Jelani McCoy played with Gary Payton in the Sonics and later played with the Lakers before Gary Payton joined Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant in Hollywood. The 6ft 10″ McCoy claimed that Payton had the toxic trait of going after his teammates and putting them down.
Jeff Pearlman wrote about McCoy’s assessment of Payton in his book Three-Ring Circus.
“Like Payton, McCoy was from Oakland, and he, too, possessed a savviness and street sensibility. He laughed at the point guard’s motor mouth but refused to cower when, during practices, the insults were aimed in his direction. One day, Payton took things too far and McCoy snarled. “F**k you, man!” he screamed. “I’ll beat your little a** right here. No ‘Glove’ or ‘G.P.’ s**t. You wanna do this? We can do this right now.” McCoy was 6-foot-10 and weighed 250 pounds. Payton was 6-foot-4 and 180. “F**k you!” Payton screamed. “I’m gonna have my boys come to town and f**k you up. You best hide, b***h.” McCoy giggled. “You mean the same guys you always talk about?” he said. “I’m friends with them, too. They’re not gonna do s**t.” He was right. “Gary was a bully,” McCoy said. “All that ‘Glove’ nonsense was image. He ruined teammates on purpose. He would f**k with guys’ heads just to test them and be selfish. If you came in with, say, a new watch, he couldn’t be nice. It’d have to be ‘I’m gonna have 10 of those tomorrow.’”
The Glove failed miserably with the Lakers
in 2003-04, the Lakers built a super team on paper. With the addition of Karl Malone and Gary Payton, the team had at least 4 future Hall of Famers.
Yet, the Lakers fell to the Detroit Pistons in just 5 games. The loss was so humiliating for the gold and purples that the team saw a major change after the defeat. Payton went to Boston, Shaq to Miami, and Karl alone retired. Maybe not a super team after all.
