Gary Payton

After he was graduated from Oregon State University, where he was the best college basketball player in the country according to Sports Illustrated, Payton was drafted by the Seattle SuperSonics. The Sonics then had their star in power forward Shawn Kemp, but Payton quickly established himself as a key member of the team as well. Behind Kemp and Payton, the Sonics emerged as one of the powerhouse teams of the Western Conference during their regular seasons in the early and mid-1990s. They won at least 55 games per season for six years in a row, something that only two other teams have achieved in the history of the NBA. But somehow the Sonics always fell apart during the playoffs. They made a good run in 1993, coming within 13 points of making it to the championships, but Barkley and the Phoenix Suns defeated them in game seven to win the Western Conference Finals. Only once, in 1996, did the Sonics make it the whole way to the NBA Finals, where they lost to the Chicago Bulls in six games.