NBA: 50 Greatest Players Of The 1990s
By Phil Watson
50 greatest NBA players from the 1990s — 10. Gary Payton
The Seattle SuperSonics went down Interstate 5 a bit to make the second overall pick in the 1990 NBA Draft, selecting Oregon State guard Gary Payton.
His offensive game took some time to catch up, but “The Glove” was an immediate impact player on defense from the time he arrived in the NBA.
Payton was a five-time All-Star in the 1990s and was the Defensive Player of the Year in 1995-96, earning six All-NBA selections and six All-Defensive nods. He also finished third in the MVP voting in 1997-98.
Payton led the NBA in steals (231) and steals per game (2.9) in 1995-96.
Payton also spearheaded the Sonics to the NBA Finals in 1996, where they lost to the Chicago Bulls in six games. In the series, Payton averaged 18 points, seven assists, 6.3 rebounds and 1.5 steals on .444/.333/.731 shooting.
In the 1990s, Payton averaged 16.3 points, 6.8 assists, 3.8 rebounds and 2.3 steals in 35.2 minutes per game, shooting .477/.309/.712.
He remained with Seattle until he was traded with Desmond Mason in February 2003 to the Milwaukee Bucks for Ray Allen, Ronald Murray, Kevin Ollie and a first-round pick in 2003.
Payton signed with the Los Angeles Lakers as a free agent in July 2003. In August 2004, he was traded with Rick Fox and a 2006 first-round pick to the Boston Celtics for Chucky Atkins, Jumaine Jones and Chris Mihm.
In February 2005, Payton was dealt with Tom Gugliotta, Michael Stewart and a 2006 first-round pick to the Atlanta Hawks for Antoine Walker, but was waived before ever suiting up in Atlanta. He returned to the Celtics as a free agent three days after he was released and in September 2005, signed with the Miami Heat, where he won his only NBA title in 2006.
Payton retired after the 2006-07 season.
In the 1990s, he was eighth with 4,816 assists, fourth with 1,603 steals and 16th with an average of 6.8 steals per game.
Payton is 10th all-time with 1,335 games, ninth with 47,117 minutes played, eighth with 8,966 assists, fourth with 2,445 steals, 30th with 21,813 points, 32nd with an average of 6.7 assists per game and 20th with an average of 1.8 steals per game.
He was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2013.