Every NBA player remembers the wars of words they had with opponents on the court. Sometimes they were the ones who started it, and other times, they were on the receiving end. But most players rarely backed down from the chatter, and Steve Francis was one of them. The three-time All-Star spoke about it during a recent interview with Brad Parker, where he was asked who the GOAT of trash talk was.
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“Michael Jordan,” acknowledged Francis without much hesitation. It’s a solid pick. His Airness was legendary for getting inside his opponents’ heads. One of his most iconic trash-talking moments came after rookie LaBradford Smith had a great game. Jordan told him, “Nice game,” then dropped 36 points on him by halftime the very next day, just to prove a point.
Somehow, Gary Payton came up in the conversation which was no surprise, given that The Glove built part of his legacy on elite trash talk. But Francis wasn’t having it. He took pride in the fact that he always lit up the Hall of Fame defender whenever they faced off.
“GP don’t add up because every time I see him I beat the sh** out of him,” said Francis. “So give me that sh**. Beat everything out of him. Don’t ever get it twisted. Still beat the breaks off his a**.”
Parker then asked the 48-year-old if there was ever a time Payton got the better of him. Francis smirked, as if it were the dumbest thing he’d ever heard. “Next question,” he replied, prompting Parker to burst into laughter. “Whenever he came to H-Town, look at the numbers. Took yo a** to the club playboy. OG sit yo a** down,” added Steve.
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Francis isn’t wrong. He averaged 18.7 points per game against Payton, including outings where he dropped 33, 32, 31, and several 27-point performances. Those are impressive numbers, especially against a one-time Defensive Player of the Year and nine-time All-Defensive selection.
This also wasn’t the first time Francis made it clear that he had to go at the ex-Miami Heat star. In an old interview with The Players’ Tribune, he recalled the exact moment he knew he had to bury him. On the court, of course. “He would not shut the hell up from the minute we got on the court. And, like I said, I idolized him. So there was no other option; I had to kill his a**,” he stated.
And just like that, a very peculiar rivalry was born. Sure, Payton racked up far more accolades over his career, but Steve was no pushover. During his prime, he was one of the league’s top-tier talents.
Every legend has that one player who gave them trouble. If GP was Batman, then Francis was Bane, the one who broke his back and made sure the whole world knew about it.
