Gary Payton
Former NBA point guard Gary Payton was one of the best players of his era. Payton was a nine-time NBA All-Star along with being a member of the Miami Heat’s first championship team in 2006. Payton would also retire from the NBA as the Seattle Supersonics all-time leader in assists with 7,384. Aside from being a fantastic point guard, Payton was also one of the better trash talkers that the NBA had ever seen and what made it worse for opponents was that he could back it up. And although that Payton retired from the NBA in 2007, his name still lives on in basketball annals.
Before being drafted by the Supersonics in 1990, Payton starred collegiately for the Oregon State Beavers. In 1990, Payton was the Pac-10 Conference’s Player of the Year along with helping Oregon State reach the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament in three consecutive years. Payton’s No. 20 jersey has been retired by the school, and there is someone that is very close to him that is adding to the family’s legacy in Corvallis.
During Payton’s time with Sonics, he had a son that he named Gary Payton II who has gone on play basketball as well. Coming out of high school, Payton II went the junior college route as he attended Salt Lake Community College. But in 2014, Payton signed a letter of intent to attend Oregon State. In Payton II’s first season with the Beavers, he led the team in scoring (13.4), and rebounds (7.5) while also leading the Pac-12 Conference in steals with 3.1 per game. Payton II would go on to be named as a First-team All-Pac 12 member while also being recognized as the Pac-12’s Defensive Player of the Year.
Gary Payton II
This season Payton II’s have numbers have improved as he is averaging 17.5 points, 8.4 rebounds, 5.3 assists, and 2.5 steals per game as he is the running to become the first Oregon State player since his old man in 1990 to be named as the Pac-12 Player of the Year. With all but one contest this season, Payton II has scored in double figures, and in Pac-12 play, he has been flirting with getting a triple-double.
In the Beavers 77-71 victory over the California Golden Bears on January 9, Payton went for 20 points, 11 rebounds, 8 assists, and 4 steals. On January 13, Oregon State would fall to the Colorado Buffaloes 71-54, but Payton II went for 26 points and 15 rebounds. And in Payton II’s last game this past Sunday against the USC Trojans, he lit them up for 22 points, 15 rebounds, and 8 assists. The Beavers currently find themselves in ninth place in the Pac-12, but this is a conference that could field as many as eight teams in the NCAA Tournament this March which means that Oregon State could be dancing for the first time since 1990.
When you watch Payton II play, you can see that he has spent many a day playing with his father. In the NBA, Payton played an effective brand of “playground basketball” which was an homage to his days of growing up in Oakland, California. And when you watch Payton II on the hardwood, he has that “old man” game that has come straight from the blacktop to the hardwood.
At 6’3″, 190 lbs., Payton II basically has the same frame as his dad, and he also has a future at the next level as a combo guard. Payton II can do it all as he can score, facilitate, rebound, and play defense. The elder Payton made his name in the NBA on defense as he was First-team All-Defense on nine occasions along with being the NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year in 1996. Payton’s stellar defense in the NBA saw him develop the moniker around the league as “The Glove” due to his tight defense which would stifle and frustrate opponents.
Along with the playground game that Payton had, he also had a playground toughness that he brought to the NBA and his son has some of that moxie in him. That moxie will be important for Payton II due to the fact he might not be an early pick in the 2016 NBA Draft, but he will be a player that will hear his name called this June at the draft. And whichever NBA team that selects Payton II will have a player that won’t shy away from doing whatever it takes to make the team while also getting dirty at the defensive end of the floor.
As the old saying goes, like father, like son, or in this case, like glove, like mitten.
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