10 players that played for both the Lakers and the Celtics
3. Gary Payton
Gary Payton is an all-time great and one of the best point guards to ever play the game. He is a nine-time NBA All-Star, nine-time All-NBA player, one-time Defensive Player of the Year and a member of the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.
His name often pops up in the conversation regarding who the greatest point guard defender in NBA history is. A nine-time member of an All-Defensive team certainly doesn’t leave much in the air.
Payton is mostly known for his Seattle Supersonics days. He and Shawn Kemp led the 1996 Sonics to the NBA Finals but fell short to quite possibly the greatest team to ever grace a basketball court, the 1996 Chicago Bulls.
After a series of postseason setbacks, Payton entered his “ultra ring-chasing” mode. In the span of three years, he would sign with the Lakers, the Celtics, as well as the Miami Heat, who would ultimately grant him the holy grail.
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Happy 49th Birthday to former Celtics PG, Gary Payton!☘️ pic.twitter.com/TeRbk1uH5L
— Celtics Network™ (@celticsnetwork) July 23, 2017
His stints with both the Lakers and the Celtics are often forgotten, given that he was out of his prime and as short-term as they could get.
Regardless of that, Payton’s talents helped the Lakers make it to the NBA Finals. As for the Celtics, they had an exciting first-round series against the Indiana Pacers, but lost in seven games.