All Love For The Glove

By foxsports
Published

As the 2013 Hall of Fame class was enshrined in Springfield, Gary Payton highlighted the group of all-time greats.  In his 17 NBA seasons, the Glove made a name for himself as one of the best pound-for-pound defensive players ever, named to the All Defensive team nine times.  GP was also the 1996 Defensive Player of the Year, the same season his Sonics squared off in the Finals against the Chicago Bulls.

A nine-time All-Star, Payton's NBA resume was highlighted in 2006 as he won a championship with the Miami Heat.  Beyond the accolades that the Glove garnered of the course of his playing days, he'll forever be remembered as one of the best trash talkers to ever take the court.

GP used his mouth to get inside his opponents heads, while pumping himself up in the process.  Never at a loss for words, Gary was one of the most outspoken players of his day.  An era that included huge personalities including Charles Barkley, Dennis Rodman, Reggie Miller, and of course Michael Jordan.  The Glove went toe-toe with all of them and would come up huge in those moments.

Here we have a very candid, and as expected, opinionated Payton recalling stories as only he can.  GP tells it like it is, and looks back on where the Glove got his trash talking game from.  Suprisngly, it wasn't influenced by anyone on the court, rather, by the greatest talker of all-time.

As for his own story, the story behind the Glove, Payton shares what it is like to reach, and live a life of NBA super stardom. 

He played not only in a great era for the NBA, but also for basketball in the city of Seattle.  The 90's saw the birth of Grunge in the Pacific Northwest, a cultural renaissance in the Emerald City and a special time for the city's hoops team.  Along with Shawn Kemp, Payton led the team to prominence with an up-tempo, dynamic style.  He looks back on those days and what it was like at the time.

In addition to the defensive prowess and the trash talking, the Glove will forever be linked to his running mate, the Reign Man.  Patyon was a lock down defender who would ignite the break and find Kemp in the open court for the finish.  Couple Kemp's ability to attack the rim and Payton's delivery of the lob, and Seattle had one of the most electrifying duos the game has ever seen.  Here, the Glove speaks to the special friendship the two still have and how they were able to do what they did.