Still in search of that elusive Larry O’Brien trophy, the pair pounced on the opportunity to join the Lakers who were led by the fearsome duo of Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant at the time. “So, when we became free agents and then, all of a sudden, Magic, started calling us and saying that the Lakers want us, they want us, they want us,” Payton continued. “And then, all of a sudden, Karl called me and said, ‘you know I want to go to L.A., I want to get sun. I want to get out of this coldness, I want to get out of all this crap. Let’s enjoy ourselves at the end of our careers and do what we do. We could sign here for 2 years and then re-up and then end our career here, and it will be fun.’ He said, ‘I’ll take the less money, you take the big money.’ And that’s what we did.”