Gary Payton, a tenacious and competitive player back in his day, was one of the best playmakers in the 1990s, the era in which star playmakers ruled the NBA. The Hall of Famer may have been the best ever. However, Payton’s production and contributions are seen in a lesser light, overshadowed because he just couldn’t find a way to beat the great Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls in the postseason.
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It wasn’t until 2005-06, Payton’s second-to-last year in the league, when The Glove finally claimed his championship with the Miami Heat. He was 37, and that title was clearly long overdue. His former teammate at both the Los Angeles Lakers and the Heat, Shaquille O’Neal, wrote in his memoir, Shaq Uncut: My Story, that the legendary defender would have won more rings if it wasn’t for Jordan’s Bulls.
“One of the best things was, we were able to get Gary Payton to come play with us. I felt I owed him a championship since things hadn’t worked out in LA,” wrote Shaq. “You got to love GP. He’s mean, he talked a lot of trash, and he wasn’t afraid of anybody. He was a fabulous player who was stuck going up against the great Michael Jordan, otherwise he would have had more rings.”
Payton was initially reluctant to move to Miami because he did not want to play under Pat Riley. But eventually, he did, after realizing that his days as a player were numbered. He badly wanted the elusive championship, and Shaq was a major factor in the move too.
“Payton had a chance to come to Miami ten years earlier for more money than he ended up taking in Seattle, but he didn’t want to play for Pat. GP figured he had a few years left, and he didn’t want to get worn down by Riley’s practices,” wrote Shaq.
“By the time Gary came in 2005, he knew he was near the end. He just wanted the ring. ‘I’m coming because of you, Shaq’, he told me.”
Payton’s late career featured an unsuccessful ring-chase with the Lakers in 2004, and his eventual championship with the Heat. But his most memorable moments came as the leader of the Seattle SuperSonics, where he spent the first 13 seasons of his career.
However, his team failed to win the title during his prime. He still made a name for himself as a gifted playmaker and generational defender though. Payton was the most recent point guard to win the NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year award before Marcus Smart claimed the accolade in 2022.
Payton created havoc for MJ despite losing 1996 NBA Finals
Although the Bulls dispatched Payton’s SuperSonics in six games in 1996, the ruthless point guard made it arguably the toughest Finals series for Jordan. Despite MJ claiming on the contrary, it was evident that Payton gave the Bulls star the most difficult individual matchup he had seen in a playoff setting.
Payton, infamously, did not guard Jordan throughout the first three games of the series, allowing him to cruise to his usual dominant stat line. After averaging 31 points over the opening games, a defensive adjustment was made, which led to Payton containing the scoring maestro.
Jordan wouldn’t score 30 points again in the final three contests and instead ended up with a pair of the worst shooting performances of his career. Had Payton been guarding Jordan from the beginning of the series, The Glove may have had his championship ring one decade earlier.
