Gary Payton Biography - One Tough Player, Playing In The Nba, Olympic Victories, Rocky Relations, Career Statistics - CONTACT INFORMATION, SELECTED WRITINGS BY PAYTON:
1968-
American basketball player
In 1999 Seattle SuperSonics point guard Gary Payton was dubbed "the best player on the planet" by no less of a basketball authority than superstar Charles Barkley. Payton has won two Olympic gold medals and is one of only eight players in National Basketball Association (NBA) history to compile a career total of over 15,000 points, 6,000 assists, and 1,000 steals. Despite this, Payton, who has spent his entire career with the SuperSonics, has yet to win an NBA championship ring.
CONTACT INFORMATION
Address: c/o Seattle SuperSonics, 351 Elliott Ave. W., Suite 500, Seattle, WA 98119.
SELECTED WRITINGS BY PAYTON:
(With Greg Brown) Confidence Counts. Dallas, TX: Taylor, 1999.
Additional Topics
Payton grew up playing street basketball in Oakland, California. From a young age, the other young men he played with there taught him how to be tough. "You learned that you can be friends before the game and after the game. But once the game starts, it's all about business. No jive," he told Sports Illustrated contributor L. Jon Wertheim in 1999. "[T]hat's one r…
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 …
Only months after losing to Chicago, Payton helped win a different championship: the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. He was a late addition to "Dream Team III," replacing Glenn Robinson after an injury forced him to withdraw. Payton contributed to Team USA's drubbings of all eight of its opponents by leading the United States in assists. When Payton returned to the Olympics in 2000, he…
Payton and the SuperSonics seemed destined to part ways after the 2001 season. Despite having plenty of good players, the team never seemed to be able to jell into a championship-winning organization, and Payton was getting frustrated. With a limited number of years left to play, he wanted the Sonics to either get serious about winning or trade him to a team that was. The Sonics would have been ha…
Payton still remembers the first time he played against his idol, Magic Johnson. It was 1990, Payton's rookie season, and the Los Angeles Lakers creamed the Sonics. As Payton recalled to the Denver Post's Adam Schefter, Johnson told him: "You're going to be good. But you've got to learn the game first." Payton certainly did prove to be "good,"…
Allen, Percy. "Sonics Listen as Record Plunges: Most Trade Talk Involves Payton." Seattle Times (January 14, 2003): D1. D'Alessandro, Dave. "Payton Has Molded Sonics in His Bickering Image." Sporting News (December 4, 2000): 57. ——. "Sonics, Even with Payton, Don't Scare the Competition." Sporting News (April 5, 1999): 27. Deven…
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