"It was an art for me to take them out of the game": SuperSonics legend Gary Payton prided himself on his iconic trash talking skills during his playing days

Seattle SuperSonics legend Gary Payton is considered to be one of the greatest trash talkers in NBA history. Recently he opened up about his strategy in talking trash with Draymond Green.

Trash talking is a thing of the past, thanks to the NBA regulations. Nowadays players take it to social media to talk smack at each other, rather than going face to face. Although Joel Embiid and Draymond Green can still be seen doing it on the court, it’s not like those golden years.

The in the 80s and the 90s, the league saw some premium trash talkers. One of them is Gary Payton. He is in everyone’s trash-talking Mount Rushmore. Facing the Glove in his heyday was not everyone’s cup of tea.

During a game of THROWING BONES, Draymond questioned Gary about his skill of getting into the opponent’s head. The Glove replied, “It was an art for me to take them out of the game.”

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Gary Payton, a.k.a The Glove, used to often cross the line

Gary is a Hall Of Famer and is also inducted into the NBA 75th Anniversary Team. He has won the Defensive Player Of The Year award in 1996 and is a 9-times All-Defensive First Team.

Many consider him to be the greatest defender in the point guard position. Combine that with all-time trash-talking skills, and you get a player who can control the game physically and mentally.

Even some of his teammates used to get overwhelmed by what he used to say. When it came to his opponents, there was no mercy. One time when Scottie Pippen was playing for the Portland Trailblazers during the end of his career, Gary said ” You ain’t nothing anymore, Scottie. Where’s Mike at?”

He was infamous for sometimes ‘crossing the line’. He used to talk about their mother, sisters, wives etc. In one such instance, during the 1994 playoffs, Gary said “I will kill your family” to Denver Nugget’s Ricky Pierce. Nobody knew what ‘going too far’ was for the Glove.