If trash talk legends were measured up to one another by pure volume, Gary Payton would be the uncontested GOAT with no competition.
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This was a man who would say practically anything to any opponent who dared to cross his path. There was no winning when Gary started coming at you verbally.
As a player facing him, you might get a few words in, score a couple of hits yourself. But this was a man who would practically never shut up when on the court. He’d outdo his opponents mentally just by putting them under the pressure of his immense volume of words.
Gary Payton had a long and successful career in the NBA – one that ended with a championship in Miami. He was inducted to the Hall of Fame early last decade. And he’s now an esteemed member of the NBA 75th Anniversary team – a richly-deserved selection.
But none of these accolades say anything about what he could get done on a basketball court. For that experience, you have to reach out to his contemporaries, rivals and opponents.
Kevin Garnett can’t praise Gary Payton enough for his brand and volume of trash talk
Kevin Garnett had numerous battles with Gary Payton through his first 11 seasons in the NBA. The Big Ticket was a kid fresh out of high school when he learnt an important lesson – never challenge the game’s best verbally.
Even so, he became a notable trash talker himself in the years to come. But Kevin Garnett admits that when it came to pure volume, there really is nobody like GP:
“I saw Gary Payton control the referees, his coach, my coach, the crowd, the lady in the front. The guy who was on the side of the Minnesota games set the buffet. He would control the whole game.”
“I watched GP back down the guard from baseline to baseline, talking the whole time. ‘Shut yo a** up!’, ‘4 up twitch!’, ‘Get his a** in here!’, ‘Ay, you see the hand on the hip, call it if you see it (to the referees).’ GP to me was like masterful.”
