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FAMOUS FOOTBALLER PLAYER
YB WEB DESK. Dated: 9/9/2021 12:47:21 PM
Gary Payton
Gary Dwayne Payton Sr. (born July 23, 1968) is an American former professional basketball player who played the point guard position. He is best known for his 13-year tenure with the Seattle SuperSonics, and holds Seattle franchise records in points, assists, and steals. He also played with the Milwaukee Bucks, Los Angeles Lakers, Boston Celtics, and Miami Heat. Payton won an NBA championship with the Heat in 2006. Nicknamed "The Glove" for his defensive abilities, Payton was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2013. Payton is widely considered one of the greatest point guards of all time. He is the only point guard to win the NBA Defensive Player of the Year award. He was selected to the NBA All-Defensive First Team nine times, an NBA record he shares with Michael Jordan, Kevin Garnett and Kobe Bryant. He was also a nine-time NBA All-Star and a nine-time All-NBA Team member. Considered the "NBA's reigning high scorer among point guards" in his prime, Payton was called "probably as complete a guard as there ever was" by Basketball Hall of Famer Gail Goodrich. High school and college career Born and raised in Oakland, California, Payton played high school basketball at Skyline High School, along with former NBA player Greg Foster, and headed north in 1986 to attend Oregon State University in Corvallis. In his sophomore year of high school his grades plummeted and he was declared academically ineligible. His dad encouraged him to focus on school, and he was allowed to play again. Throughout his four-year career at Oregon State, he became one of the most decorated basketball players in school history. During his senior season in 1989–90, Payton was featured in the cover story of Sports Illustrated on March 5 as the nation's best college basketball player. He was a consensus All-American, a threetime All-Pac-10 selection, and both the Pac-10 Defensive Player of the Year and conference Freshman of the Year in 1987. He was the MVP of the Far West Classic tournament three times, the Pac-10 Player of the Week nine times, and named to the Pac-10's All-Decade Team. At the time of his graduation, Payton held the school record for points.