Gary Payton: biography, career, achievements

The name Michael Jordan has long been a household name, as the impressive success of the player during performances in the NBA today set as an example to any novice basketball player. However, few people know that the only reliable "weapon" against the actions of "his Air" was Gary Payton. Confrontation of players on the court has always become an extremely anticipated event for the audience. And the winner in personal battles more often went to Gary Duane Payton. Perhaps it is through successful actions against Jordan that the player has earned the title of the best defender in the history of the NBA.

early years

Gary Payton was born on July 23, 1968. The family of the future basketball player resided at the time in the city of Oakland (California). Like all children of that time, Gary wanted to have fun with his peers on the street, rather than to spend free time on sports. However, the boy's parents were quite strict in character. Therefore, to achieve success in basketball, Payton in many ways tried to spite the family, who did not consider him particularly talented.

A high level in sports a guy began to demonstrate during his studies in high school. Despite the stable results, the teammates could not even imagine that very soon Gary Payton would turn into a real NBA star.

To fully reveal the hidden talents to young talent was at the University of Oregon. However, a successful game of basketball could be for Payton fatal, since the guy absolutely did not pay attention to study. Gary's assessments were so unsatisfactory that he was temporarily banned from even approaching the basketball court. Only thanks to the severity and authority of the father, the young man managed to solve academic problems.

By the fourth year of his studies at the University, Gary Payton had become a real star of the student league. The authoritative printed edition Sports Illustrated named him the most talented young basketball player of the country. Confirmation of this was a prompt invitation to the Seattle SuperSonics team. As it turned out, later, it was here that Payton was to spend the next 13 years of his professional career.

Starting a career in the NBA

It would seem that it could be better than being in the forefront of the NBA club, which was the Seattle Super Sonic in the 90s of the last century. However, in reality, it was a blessing for the team to acquire such an extremely talented young player as Gary Payton. The club owners considered the transfer of the guy as a successful marketing move. And in fact, wide public attention to the success of Payton played a role, having a very positive impact on the increase in attendance of matches "Sonics".

Already on the results of the first season in the new team, Gary entered the symbolic team of the best newcomers to the league. Achieve the success of the guy allowed incredibly productive actions in defense. Payton managed to put unthinkable blocks to the opponents, who stopped both ordinary players and the biggest stars of the championship. Moreover, Gary quickly became one of the most indispensable forwards in the NBA. To this day in the team of Seattle SuperSonics for him, the record for the number of assists and points gained remains.

Sports achivments

During 17 years of performances in the NBA, Gary Payton was invited 9 times to participate in the All-Star Match. From 1995 to 1999, the player invariably entered the top ten basketball players of the NBA, and in the 1999/2000 season was in the top five of the playmakers of the league. In 1996, Payton won the "Best Defender of the Year" nomination. 2006 brought Gary the title - NBA champion.

Statistics in the NBA

Payton has the following indicators for all time performances in the tournament:

• Participation in games - 1 335;
• Points scored - 21,813 (16.3 points on average for the duel);
• Effective transfers - 8,966 (an average of 6.7 per game);
• Rebounds - 5,269 (an average of 3.9 per match);
• Block shots - 285 (about 0.2 during the game);
• Interceptions - 2 445 (1.8 per match).

Career after Seattle SuperSonics

After giving 13 years of performance for the team from Seattle, Payton received an offer from the "Milwaukee Bucks". The decision to change the club did not bring the player the expected success. Later, Payton was in favor of the Boston Celtics and the Los Angeles Lakers.

Gary's dream of the title came true after moving to the Miami Heat team. Here, along with new partners, the player obtained the coveted trophy in the 2005/2006 season. After the successfully completed year, the National Team of All Stars of the NBA was joined by another participant.

Statements for the national team of the United States

Successful performances of Payton in such teams as "Sonics", "Lakers" and "Miami Heat" did not go unnoticed by the coaches of the American team. As part of the national team, Gary subsequently won the gold medals of the Olympic Games in Atlanta, which took place in 1996. In 2000, the player, together with partners, repeated the previous achievement in Sydney.

Finally

Having won all the titles that can only be achieved in professional basketball, Gary Payton decided to retire. Most of the time, the legendary NBA player gave the family. At the same time, the former basketball player repeatedly became a participant of the sports talk show Fan Night, which enjoyed a special attention of the American audience. However, the duo of experts Chris Webber and Payton existed on television for long. According to one version, Gary left the program because he was going to become a coach, on the other - to all the guilt of verbal chaos, which was repeatedly arranged by former players during heated discussions on the air. Recently Payton again returned to television as an expert, but this time in a transfer with a more decent format.