Gary Payton
Gary Payton was born in Oakland, California, United States on July 23rd, 1968 and is the Basketball Player. At the age of 56, Gary Payton biography, profession, age, height, weight, eye color, hair color, build, measurements, education, career, dating/affair, family, news updates, and networth are available.
At 56 years old, Gary Payton has this physical status:
Gary Dwayne Payton Sr. (born July 23, 1968) is an American retired 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.
Payton won an NBA championship with the Heat in 2006.
He was nicknamed "The Glove" for his defensive abilities.
He was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame on September 8, 2013.Payton is widely considered one of the best point guards of all time.
He is the only point guard to win the NBA Defensive Player of the Year award.
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. Considered the "NBA's reigning high scorer among point guards" in his prime, Payton is referred to as "probably as complete a guard as there ever was" by Basketball Hall of Famer Gail Goodrich.
High school and college career
Payton was born and raised in Oakland, California, and along with former NBA player Greg Foster, they both played basketball at Skyline High School in 1986 and moved north to Oregon State University in Corvallis. At one time, he intended to attend The University of Texas at El Paso, but Don Haskins canceled his invitation after Payton was deciding between UTEP and St. John's. His grades plummeted in his sophomore year of high school, and he was declared academically ineligible. His father advised him to concentrate on school, and he was allowed to play again. He made a name for himself by four years at Oregon State, becoming one of the most decorated basketball players in school history.
Payton was featured in the Sports Illustrated's front page on March 5 as the country's best college basketball player during his senior season in 1989–90. He was a consensus All-American, a three-time All-Pac-10 pick, 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 was named to the Pac-10's All-Decade Team. Payton held the school record for points, field goals, three-point field goals, assists, and robbery, which he still holds today except for career goals and three-point field goals. The Beavers made three NCAA tournament appearances and one NIT appearance during their time at OSU. In 1996, he was inducted into OSU's Sports Hall of Fame.
NBA career
The Seattle SuperSonics' second overall pick in the 1990 NBA draft. Payton's first double-double of his career came after winning by 13 points and 10 assists in a road victory over the Nuggets on Wednesday. Payton made his first triple-double appearance on February 23, 1991, scoring 18 points, ten rebounds, and 11 assists in a losing bid to the Suns. Payton only scored two points in the game, but dished out 16 assists, a career high for him. In his rookie season, he played for Slick Watts and Nate McMillan as the only SuperSonics' players to have dished out 16 or more assists. Payton's rookie campaign saw him reach 8 point-assist double-doubles, the most by any SuperSonics' player in history. His rookie season has averaged 7.2 points per game, 3.0 rebounds per game, 6.4 assists per game, and 2.0 steals per game.
Payton earned two triple-doubles on the whole season, joining Slick Watts and Nate McMillan for the first time in a Supersonics franchise history. In a road victory over the Bullets in November 19, 1991, he scored a season-high 22 points to go along with 7 assists. 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 played for the Sonics for his first 1212 seasons. Payton struggled during his first two seasons in the league, scoring 8.2 points per game during that period. However, he quickly established himself as one of the top point guards in the league, when Payton, alongside Shawn Kemp, established the "Sonic Boom" in the 1990s. When he was chosen to the All-NBA Third team in 1994, he made his first of nine consecutive All-NBA team picks. In 1998, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2000, and 2002, Payton would qualify for the All-NBA First Team, which included 1996, 1997, 1999, and 2002, and 2002, and the All-NBA Third Team in 1994 and 2001. He was selected to the NBA All-Defensive First Team for nine years (1994–2002), and he received the NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award in 1996, the first point guard to win the award. He has been called a starter on the NBA All-Star Team nine times and was voted as a starter in 1997 and 1998. He competed for the gold medal-winning 1996 and 2000 U.S. Men's Olympic Basketball Teams. Payton and the SuperSonics, under new head coach George Karl, reached the NBA Finals in 1996 after winning a franchise record 64 games and losing in six games to Michael Jordan's Chicago Bulls.
Howard Schultz, who bought the SuperSonics in 2001, and Payton feuded with Howard Schultz. Schultz decided to leave Payton after Payton did not attend the first day of training camp in 2002.
Payton and Desmond Mason were traded to the Milwaukee Bucks in a trade for Ray Allen, Kevin Ollie, and Ronald Murray in the middle of the 2002–03 season. Payton was averaging 19.6 points and 7.4 assists per game in the remaining 28 games with the Bucks, averaging 19.6 points and 7.4 assists per game. In the first round of the playoffs, the Bucks faced the defending Eastern Conference champion New Jersey Nets, limiting the Nets to six games before falling to the more experienced and well rounded Nets. During the series, Payton led the Bucks in scoring (18.5) and assists (8.7), which culminated in a 20-point, 14-assist victory in a Game 4 Milwaukee victory.
Payton and Karl Malone, an unrestricted free agent during the 2003-2004 season, joined the Los Angeles Lakers to attempt their first NBA Championship. Payton started playing in all 82 games and averaged 14.6 points with 5.5 assists and 1.2 steals, but Lakers coach Phil Jackson's triangle offense, which limited his ball-handling and post-up opportunities, made him miserable. In an overtime victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers on February 4, Payton provided offense in games where superstar Shaquille O'Neal or Kobe Bryant could not play due to injury, as well as a 30-point outburst.
Despite injuries to Malone, O'Neal, and Bryant throughout the season, the Lakers won 56 games and the Pacific Division. Payton averaged 7.8 points per game in the playoffs, but scored 15 points in Games 3 and 6 of the Lakers' semifinals against the San Antonio Spurs, and scored 18 points to go with nine assists in Game 3 of the Western Conference Finals against the Minnesota Timberwolves. The Lakers will advance to the NBA Finals before losing in five games to the Detroit Pistons.
The Lakers traded Payton and Rick Fox to the Boston Celtics for center Chris Mihm, small forward Jumaine Jones, and point guard Chucky Atkins before the 2005–05 season. Although Payton expressed dissatisfaction with the trade, he did report to Boston and started the Celtics' starting point guard in the 2004-05 season. Payton was traded to the Atlanta Hawks in a contract that brought former Celtic Antoine Walker back to Boston on February 24, 2005. Following the trade, the Hawks cut Payton and returned to Boston a week later as a free agent. The Celtics won the Atlantic Division before losing in the first round to the Indiana Pacers in 77 games. Patrick played for Boston and averaged 11.3 points per game and 6.1 assists.
He signed a one-year $1.1 million deal with Miami on September 22, 2005, reuniting with Walker (who was signed seven weeks earlier by the Heat), as well as former Lakers teammate Shaquille O'Neal. Payton, who was serving as a back-up to Jason Williams, averaged 7.7 points and started 25 of 81 games. Payton did not get off the field, but averaged 24.3 minutes per game after averaging 28.5 minutes during the regular season, often playing in the 4th quarter of games when pressure is needed. Payton won by five points in Game 4 of the semifinals against the New Jersey Nets after a crucial three-pointer was left in the game to clinch the Heat victory. Payton scored 14 points on 6-of-8 shootings in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals on the road against the Detroit Pistons, setting the tone in the series. Miami defeated the Dallas Mavericks in six games to advance to the team's first ever Finals against the Dallas Mavericks. Miami lost the first two games in Dallas and trailed in the final quarter of Game 3 before Dwyane Wade cameback by fooling his defender and hitting the game-winning jump shot to save Miami from falling 3–0. Payton scored 8 points, including Miami's last field goal with 29 seconds remaining, to help clinch a one-point victory in Game 5. The Heat returned to Dallas for Game 6 and defeated 95–92, winning their first and Payton's first NBA title.
The 38-year-old Payton re-signed with the Miami Heat on a one-year, $1.2 million deal on September 6, 2006. Payton continued to rise through multiple NBA all-time polls from 17th to 8th in all-time NBA games played, by John Havlicek and Robert Parish, to rank seventh in all-time minutes played, and past Hal Greer and Larry Bird to become the 21st-highest scorer in NBA history during the 2006-07 NBA season.