Gary Payton

Gary Dwayne Payton (born July 23, 1968) is an American former professional basketball player who was a point guard in the National Basketball Association (NBA).

Widely considered one of the greatest point guards of all time, he is best known for his 13-year tenure with the Seattle SuperSonics, where he holds franchise records in assists and steals.

He also played with the Milwaukee Bucks, Los Angeles Lakers, Boston Celtics, and Miami Heat.

Gary Dwayne Payton was born on July 23, 1968, in Oakland, California.

He attended Skyline High School, where he excelled in basketball along with former NBA player Greg Foster.

Payton attended Oregon State University in Corvallis.

At one point, he wanted to attend The University of Texas at El Paso, but Don Haskins later rescinded his offer after Payton was deciding between UTEP and St. John's.

In his sophomore year of high school, his grades plummeted and he was declared academically ineligible.

His father encouraged him to focus on school, and he was allowed to play again.

Throughout his four-year career at Oregon State, he became one of the most decorated basketball players in school history.

He was a consensus All-American, a three-time All-Pac-10 selection, and both the Pac-10 Defensive Player of the Year and conference Freshman of the Year in 1987.

He was the MVP of the Far West Classic tournament three times, the Pac-10 Player of the Week nine times, and named to the Pac-10's All-Decade Team.

At the time of his graduation, Payton held the school record for points, field goals, three-point field goals, assists, and steals – all of which he still holds today except for career points and three-point field goals.

During his career at OSU, the Beavers made three NCAA tournament appearances and one NIT appearance.

During his senior season in 1989–90, Payton was featured in the cover story of Sports Illustrated on March 5 as the nation's best college basketball player.

Payton was the second overall pick in the 1990 NBA draft by the Seattle SuperSonics.

In his third career game, Payton recorded his first double-double after recording 13 points and 10 assists in a road win over the Nuggets.

However, he soon proved himself to be one of the league's top point guards, while, during the 1990s Payton, alongside Shawn Kemp formed the "Sonic Boom".

On February 23, 1991, Payton recorded his first career triple-double after recording 18 points, 10 rebounds, and 11 assists in a losing effort to the Suns.

The following game, Payton scored only 2 points but dished out 16 assists, a then career-high for him.

He joined Slick Watts and Nate McMillan as the only SuperSonics' players to have dished out 16 or more assists in his rookie season.

Throughout his rookie campaign, Payton recorded 8 point-assist double-doubles, the most by any SuperSonics' player in history.

His average for his rookie season is 7.2 points per game, 3.0 rebounds per game, 6.4 assists per game, and 2.0 steals per game.

In his second season, Payton recorded 2 triple-doubles on the whole season joining Slick Watts and Nate McMillan at that time to have recorded 2 triple-doubles in a season in Supersonics franchise history.

He scored a season-high 22 points to go along with 7 assists in road win over the Bullets back in November 19, 1991.

His season average is 9.4 points per game, 3.6 rebounds per game, 6.2 assists per game, 1.8 steals per game, and 0.3 blocks per game.

Payton spent his first 12½ seasons with the Sonics.

Entering the league to star-studded expectations, Payton struggled during his first two seasons in the league, averaging 8.2 points per game during that span.

He earned his first of 9 consecutive All-NBA team selections when he was chosen to the All-NBA Third team in 1994.

He was selected to the NBA All-Defensive First Team a record nine consecutive seasons (1994–2002), and won the NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award in 1996, the first point guard to win the award.

He was elected into OSU's Sports Hall of Fame in 1996.

He has been selected to the NBA All-Star Team nine times and was voted as a starter in 1997 and 1998.

Payton would go on to make the All-NBA First-Team in 1998 and 2000, All-NBA Second Team in 1995, 1996, 1997, 1999, and 2002, and All-NBA Third Team in 1994 and 2001.

Payton won an NBA championship with the Heat in 2006.

Nicknamed "the Glove" for his defensive abilities, Payton was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2013.

In October 2021, Payton was named to the NBA 75th Anniversary Team.

Payton is the first point guard to win the NBA Defensive Player of the Year award, and the only point guard winner in the award's first 39 years, until Marcus Smart was selected in 2022.

He was selected to the NBA All-Defensive First Team nine times, an NBA record he shares with Michael Jordan, Kevin Garnett, and Kobe Bryant.

He was also a nine-time NBA All-Star and a nine-time All-NBA Team member.

Payton was called "probably as complete a guard as there ever was" by Basketball Hall of Famer Gail Goodrich.