The name Michael Jordan has long been a household name, since the impressive success of a player during his appearances in the NBA today is an example to any novice basketball player. However, few people know that the only reliable "weapon" against the actions of "his Air" was Gary Payton. The confrontation of players on the site has always become a highly anticipated event for the audience. Moreover, the winner in personal fights often came out Gary Dwayne Payton. Perhaps due to successful actions against Jordan, the player earned the title of best defender in the history of the NBA.
early years
Gary Payton was born July 23, 1968. The family of the future basketball player lived at that time in the city of Auckland (California). Like all children of that time, Gary wanted to have fun with peers on the street, rather than devote free time to sports. However, the boy’s parents were quite strict. Therefore, Payton tried to achieve success in basketball in many respects in spite of his relatives, who did not consider him particularly talented.
The guy began to demonstrate a high level in sports while studying in high school. Despite stable results, teammates could not even imagine that very soon Gary Payton would turn into a real NBA star.
The young talent was able to fully demonstrate the hidden talents at the University of Oregon. However, a successful game of basketball could be fatal for Payton, because the guy absolutely did not pay attention to his studies. Gary’s grades were so unsatisfactory that for a while he was forbidden to even approach the basketball court. Only thanks to the severity and authority of his father did the young man manage to solve academic problems.
By the fourth year of study at the university, Gary Payton became a real star in the student league. The authoritative print publication Sports Illustrated named him the country's most talented young basketball player. Confirmation of this was an early invitation to the Seattle SuperSonics team. As it turned out, later it was here that Payton was destined to spend the next 13 years of his professional career.
NBA career start
It would seem that it could be better than to be in the advanced NBA club, which was the Seattle Super Sonic in the 90s of the last century. However, in reality, the team was happy to acquire such an extremely talented young player as Gary Payton. The club owners saw the guy’s transfer as a successful marketing move. And in fact, widespread public attention to Payton's success played a role, having a very positive effect on increasing attendance at Sonic matches.
According to the results of the first season in the new team, Gary entered the symbolic team of the best newcomers to the league. To achieve success, the guy was allowed incredibly productive actions in defense. Payton managed to put unthinkable blocks to the opponents, which stopped both ordinary players and the biggest stars of the championship. Moreover, Gary quickly became one of the most indispensable strikers in the NBA. To this day, the Seattle SuperSonics team has kept a record for him in the number of assists and points scored.
Sports achivments
During 17 years of playing in the NBA, Gary Payton was invited 9 times to participate in the All-Star Game. From 1995 to 1999, the player was consistently among the top ten NBA players, and in the 1999/2000 season he was in the top five league playmakers. In 1996, Payton won the "Best Defender of the Year" nomination. 2006 brought Gary the title of NBA champion.
Statistics in the NBA
Payton has the following indicators for all the time the tournament has performed:
- participation in games - 1,335;
- points scored - 21,813 (16.3 points on average for a duel);
- Assists - 8 966 (an average of 6.7 per game);
- rebounds - 5,269 (average 3.9 per match);
- block shots - 285 (of the order of 0.2 during the game);
- interceptions - 2,445 (1.8 per match).
Career after Seattle SuperSonics
After giving 13 years of playing for the Seattle team, Payton received an offer from Milwaukee Bucks. The decision to change the club did not bring the player the expected success. Payton later played for the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers.
Gary’s dream of a championship came true after moving to the Miami Heat team. Here, together with new partners, the player obtained the coveted trophy in the 2005/2006 season. After a successful year, the NBA All-Star team replenished with another member.
United States national team appearances
Payton's successful appearances in teams such as Sonics, Lakers and Miami Heat did not go unnoticed by the coaches of the American team. As part of the national team , Gary subsequently obtained gold medals at the Atlanta Olympics in 1996. In 2000, the player, along with partners, repeated the previous achievement in Sydney.
Finally
Having won all the titles that can only be achieved in professional basketball, Gary Payton decided to retire. The legendary NBA player spent most of his time on the family. At the same time, the former basketball player repeatedly became a participant in the fan talk sports show Fan Night, which received special attention of the American audience. However, the duo of experts Chris Webber and Payton did not exist on television for long. According to one version, Gary left the program, as he was going to become a coach, according to another - the verbal mess that the former players repeatedly arranged during hot discussions on the air was to blame. Payton recently returned to television as an expert, but this time in a broadcast with a more decent format.