Payton celebrating his first title
Gary Payton – Gary Dwayne Payton also known as “The Glove” was drafted as the second pick in the first round of the 1990 NBA draft. Throughout his career, Payton became known for his hard-nosed defense and trash talk. Regarded as one of the league’s toughest defenders, Payton credits his playing style to growing up in Oakland, California and having a tough no-nonsense father. In fact, Gary worked hard for his father’s approval; stating that his father Al Payton (also known as Mr. Mean) would still criticize his game despite a 50 point performance.
Payton struggled with confidence in his rookie season due to lack of playing time under his then coach KC Jones. Expressing his frustrations to his agent and Father, Payton felt that he was “not good enough to play in this league.” As a result, Payton considered leaving the NBA after his rookie season. After motivational conversations from his father and his agent, Payton decided to work on his game and continue his career in the NBA.
Gary Payton earned his nickname “The Glove” during the 1993 Western Conference Finals versus the Phoenix Suns. After a stellar performance and “locking down” the Suns point guard Kevin Johnson, Gary’s cousin told him “he was holding Kevin Johnson like a baseball in a glove.” Despite Gary’s defensive pressure on Kevin Johnson, the Suns went on to win the series 4 games to 3.
Teaming up with Shawn Kemp, the duo known as “The Sonic Boom” achieved 6 playoff appearances together. In addition to their playoff accomplishments, Gary Payton led the Seattle Supersonics to 9 additional playoff matchups without Kemp. As Payton continued his success with the Seattle Supersonics, he became the franchise leader in points, assists and steals. Playing for 5 NBA teams and spending most of his career on the Supersonics (13 seasons), Gary Payton achieved the number one goal all players wish to achieve: winning a championship.
Based on his accomplishments and tenacity, Gary Payton was inducted in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame on Sunday, September 08, 2013.
Here are some Highlights of Mr. Payton’s career:
1990 NCAA Pac-12 Player of the Year
2x All NBA 1st Team
5x All NBA 2nd Team
2x All NBA 3rd team
9x NBA All-Defensive 1st Team
9x NBA All-Star
1996 Defensive Player of the Year
Led the NBA in Steals in 1995 – 1996 (231)
Led NBA in Assists in 1999 – 2000 (732)
2x Olympic Gold Medalist (1996 & 2000 Olympic Games)
NBA Champion 2006
Other notable inductees include:
The “King” of Madison Square Garden-Bernard King
Bernard King – Hailing from Brooklyn, New York; King was a 4x NBA All-Star and played for 5 NBA teams averaging over 22 points per game throughout his career.
3x Olympic Medalist Dawn Staley
Dawn Staley – From Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Dawn Staley made her mark in the WNBA as a 5x WNBA All-Star, 3x Olympic Gold Medalist (1996, 2000, and 2004) and was named USA Basketball Female player of the year in 1994.
Join Esleek as we congratulate Gary Payton, Bernard King and Dawn Staley for their contributions to the game of Basketball and for their 2013 NBA Hall of Fame induction.
ESLEEK 
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