NBA legend Gary Payton on how Ben Simmons can save his career, infamous battles with Michael Jordan and The Last Dance
NBA icon Gary Payton has opened up on his famous clash with Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls - and the shade the GOAT threw at the Glove in his documentary series The Last Dance.
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NBA icon Gary Payton has opened up on his famous clash with Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls — and the shade the GOAT threw at the Glove in his documentary series The Last Dance.
Payton’s Seattle pushed the record-breaking 72-10 Bulls to six games in the 1996 NBA Finals, the feisty guard switched onto Jordan after had torched the Supersonics through the first three games.
The Glove’s defence held the GOAT to 23, 22, and 22 points, well below the 31 he’d averaged through the first three games.
In the documentary, Jordan famously laughed when shown footage of Payton saying his efforts changed the series.
“The Glove. I had no problem with The Glove. I had no problem with Gary Payton,” Jordan said.
But Payton says while he’d never admit it, Jordan, deep down, knows how close he came to squandering the title.
“Man, I don’t care about that, that was his thing, he created all that and I wouldn’t respect him if he didn’t say what he said,” Payton said, when asked about the Last Dance.
“He said he didn’t have no trouble with me and I damn sure didn’t have no trouble with him, so I don’t care about that and he knows it.
“I wasn’t fearing him, I didn’t have no fear against him and he didn’t have no fear against me.
“And hey, that’s good, glad to hear it, because that means we’re both competitive and we’re both going to stay that way and he knows I’m never going to back down.
“Everybody who watches basketball knows the truth. They knew what was going on during that series.”
Payton says the opportunity to compete with — and beat — the best during the halcyon days of the 1990s “made me”.
“It was great times, looking back on that, I had fun,” he said.
“I would never go back and if anybody asks me would I change anything in my life, I would say ‘no’.
“I played in the best era of basketball in the 90s and I’m glad for the players I played with and against.”
HOW SIMMONS CAN SAVE HIS CAREER
Ben Simmons needs to get healthy, get off social media and “punish people” on the court to prove he still has the unique abilities that made him a three-time NBA All-Star and a No. 1 draft pick.
That’s the view of NBA legend Gary Payton.
Despite a second back surgery in two years that shut down Simmons’ campaign in Brooklyn — and ended any hope of an Olympic debut with the Boomers this year — the man known as The Glove for his defensive prowess across 15 NBA seasons believes the Aussie can get back to his best.
“What he should do is get himself very healthy, come back — he has shown that he has a lot of ability and his talent is beyond,” Payton, in Australia for his Block Party at Magic’s Sports Bar on Manly Beach, said.
“He wasn’t the No. 1 pick for nothing, so he’s got to get his mind right.
“The one thing he has to do is stay out of this social media and stop listening to all this crap.”
Simmons struggles with durability and shooting is famous and he’s worn almost universal derision from NBA pundits and fans — and those who hoped he might help lead the Boomers to a medal in Paris.
Payton says he needs to block out the noise — and take a leaf out of superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo’s book.
“I don’t care about all that, all I care about is how he can get it together,” Payton said.
“He needs to just go and play basketball and prove that on the floor, not by listening to it and getting his mind into it, saying he can’t shoot, he can’t shoot free throws, back up off of it (social media).
“When he starts doing that, I think he can punish people.
“They told Giannis the same things, that he couldn’t shoot. Now what is he doing?
“He’s shooting threes, he’s making a ton of them, he’s putting his whole game together and he won a championship that way and he got a couple of MVPs.
“So, me, I don’t care what people say, I think you prove people wrong and I think that’s what Ben needs to do.”
Payton, who famously had a running duel with Aussie legend Shane Heal throughout the late 1990s, is a huge fan of the Aussie talent in the NBA.
“I played against Patty Mills, I played against Andrew Gaze, I played against a lot of them,” Payton said.
“You’ve got Josh Giddey down there at Oklahoma City who is playing really well and doing his thing, you’re seeing the talent that is coming out of Australia and it just gets more and more impressive.
“As long as these players keep coming over here and giving us a lot of competition, that’s great for the world and great for basketball.”
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