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Gary Payton (born July 23, 1968 in Oakland, California) is a professional basketball player in the NBA. He is commonly referred to by fans as simply, "The Glove", in recognition of his reputation for playing tenacious defense. He is a point guard. He went to college at Oregon State. He was picked 2nd in the 1990 draft by the Seattle SuperSonics. He spent his first 12 and a half seasons with the Sonics. In 2003 he was traded to the Milwaukee Bucks for Ray Allen. He only played 28 games with the Bucks.
Before the 2003-2004 season started, he decided he wanted to play for the Los Angeles Lakers. His decision was based on the fact that the Lakers would be the team with whom he would have the best chance of winning a championship that had eluded him for so long. He got very close, but the Lakers lost to the Detroit Pistons in the 5th game of the best-out-of-7 championship series. After his poor showing in the 2004 playoffs, many sports analysts voiced suspicions that he would exercise his contract option to stay with the Lakers and maintain his current salary. The Lakers traded both Payton and Rick Fox to the Boston Celtics for center Chris Mihm, Small forward Jumaine Jones and point guard Chucky Atkins. While Payton has expressed displeasure with the trade and has threatened to retire rather than play for the Celtics, he ultimately did report and started the 2004-2005 season as the Celtics' starting point guard. After 58 games, Payton expressed his true emotions to the Celtics General Manager and proposed an agreement to play for the Sonics for a 1 year, 4.3 million dollar contract.
Career highlights
- 44 points in a game against Minnesota in 2001
- 54 minutes played in a game against Cleveland in 1996
- NBA All-Star team 7 times
- NBA defensive player of the year 1996
- Won gold at Olympics in Atlanta and in Sydney
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