The Glove was fierce, as fierce as it gets at the point of attack. This is a man who both ran the offense and guarded the GOAT in the same NBA Finals. Gary Payton is one of if not the most dominant two way player to ever play his position, he also went to the NBA Finals with three different teams. I’ve always wondered how much the Championship with Miami late in his career effected his legacy, whether it boosted him above other comparable greats, or remained a footnote in a terrific career.
Payton didn’t win a ring as, “the guy” but never-the-less, a ring was on his finger when he hung up J’s. He also didn’t get his long awaited Championship until he was 37 years old, cough, Chris Paul is 30, cough. Payton quietly racked up the stats over his career, he sits fourth all time in steals, eighth in assists, and 30th in points.
The Resume:
Second Overall Pick 1990 – Seattle SuperSonics
9x All-Star
9x All-NBA
9x All-NBA Defense
Defensive Player of the Year
Championship
Hall of Fame
How did the guys rank him?
The Flag Bearer: Matt Drappel and Justin Termine (31).
The Barn Burner: Brian Geltzeiler and Marc Griffin (NR). . .
How did the other guys rank Payton: Robert Littal (32), Will Reeve (33), Jacob Noble (34), Josh Eberley (38), Justin Rowan (39), Justin Salkin (40), Shane Young (44), James Holas (47), Lang Greene (48), and Adi Joseph (50)
#40 Saturday, August 29.
Don’t like it? Think we got it wrong? Maybe, just maybe we got it right? Let us know using the #HCHot50 hash-tag. Or give the contributors hell, contact info below. Any tweets with #HCHot50 may be featured on the site going forward, tweet us your feedback!
Contributors:
Josh Eberley – hoopscritic.com / Host of the @PullUpPodcastHC, @JoshEberley
Jacob Noble – hoopscritic.com / Host of the @PullUpPodcastHC, @JacobNoble_HC
James Holas – hoopscritic.com / BballBreakdown, @SnottieDrippen
Adi Joseph – sportingnews.com, @AdiJoseph
Matt Drappel – sportsnet.ca, @MattyD416
Justin Rowan – fearthesword.com / hoopslounge.com, @Cavsanada
Robert Littal – blacksportsonline.com, @BSO
Shane Young – hoopshabit.com, @YoungNBA
Justin Termine – Sirius XM NBA / cinesport.com host, @TermineRadio
Marc Griffin – hoopslounge.com / sportsnet.ca, @montrealmarc
Lang Greene – basketballinsiders.com, @LangGreene
Justin Salkin – hoopscritic.com / brooklynsbeat.com, @brooklynsbeat
Will Reeve – awfsports.com / Host of the All Weather Fan Podcast, contributor for hoopscritic.com @WillReeveJr
and of course,
Brian Geltzeiler – hoopscritic.com / Sirius XM NBA / the-cauldron.com / 120sports.com, @hoopscritic
Links to previous #HCHot50 pages: