Gary Payton
Gary Payton
Gary Dwayne Paytonis an American former professional basketball player. He started at the point guard position. He is best known for his 13-year tenure with the Seattle SuperSonics, and holds Seattle franchise records in points, assists, and steals. He also played with the Milwaukee Bucks, Los Angeles Lakers, Boston Celtics and Miami Heat, the last with whom he won an NBA championship. He was nicknamed "The Glove" for his excellent defensive ability. He was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall...
ProfessionBasketball Player
Date of Birth23 July 1968
CityOakland, CA
They're athletic and young and they're all freewheeling. They're playing really loose, so it's going to be a good challenge.
They're all athletic and young and they're all free willing. They (Chicago) are playing really loose. It's going to be a good challenge. We're going to have Shaq back in there and all of us playing on the same page with everybody back.
We've got to expect a war. Everybody's overlooking this team, but this is a very good team.
He fooled us. Usually, we get the tantrum and all of that. He can say some mean stuff. But this time, he went to an opposite approach. I never thought I'd ever see that from him. He must have danced a good three or four minutes. He was good out there, twirling around, light on his feet. We got some spirit from that.
He looked pretty good. He just has to get his timing back, and then it's going to be good for us.
We have a lot of new guys coming in that are going to have to learn the system. And we are going to have to get it together right away. I think that is where a lot of people are concerned about us. We have a good shot, we have a lot of talent here and we have to get cohesive very quickly.
I like him the way he is now. I think he just wanted to get in shape to show people he can do that. Shaq is Shaq when he's big and when he can muscle people around. I think people thought they could muscle him around. He didn't feel comfortable with that. ... It'll be a big difference.
Everybody's playing the way they're supposed to play. Everybody's doing their job. Everybody's being the role player that they've got to be and doing the things they need to do. It helps when you've got a lot of veterans on your team.
It's not a lollygag thing. You've got to go hard on everything.
I'm going to try to help Jason as much as possible. He has never had a guy like me to guide him. When I come into camp, I'm going to try to help him. I'm not going to try to beat him up or beat him down.
I hope we've gotten past that sense of lackadaisical play.
It's been very hard coming from where I come from, starting all my time. But right now it's not about that. It's about what we have to accomplish to get to a championship.
They wanted the scores to go up because they wanted the fans to come back. They want high-flying dunks, a lot of people scoring and that's what they're getting. The people they want to see score, they're getting that, and their TV ratings go up.
We're very close, and when he steps up for me like that, it's hard to tell him no.