Few writers know more about the life of Kobe Bryant than Roland Lazenby, who wrote the 2016 biography “Showboat: The Life of Kobe Bryant.”
Few writers know more about the life of Kobe Bryant than Roland Lazenby, who wrote the 2016 biography “Showboat: The Life of Kobe Bryant.” Lazenby witnessed many of Bryant’s milestones in-person, from his first NBA field goal in 1996 to his first championship in 2000. In addition to interviewing a ton of people in Bryant’s life for his book, he developed a unique bond of his own with Kobe.
Lazenby’s book has been translated into nine different languages, so he’s spent the last several days doing interviews with outlets in many different countries and witnessing how the entire world has been affected by this tragedy. HoopsHype spoke to Lazenby about his relationship with Bryant, his favorite memories, Bryant’s legacy, the impact that Kobe had on his daughter and more.
First of all, how are you holding up?
Roland Lazenby: I haven’t really spent much time thinking about me, beyond being numb. Kobe lost his daughter. When I first started interviewing him, my youngest daughter was just starting to play basketball. She was in AAU and then eventually she played in high school and college. When she was about 12 or 13 years old, Kobe sat down and wrote her a note, telling her to never give up on her dreams. She is a mother now, living in Boston, and she has sort of followed Kobe’s coaching of his daughter from afar because Kobe had a tremendous impact on her when she was that same age. Like Kobe, she is a grinder with a fierce work ethic. When I got done doing interviews last night around 11:00, I was driving home and I called her. She had found that letter that he had written for her and… Kobe was our guy. It was our father-daughter thing. It’s something we share and she had always had such high regard for Kobe, even through all of his troubles. It’s a mix of personal and professional [feelings].
How did you learn about Kobe’s death?
RL: I’m not the kind of guy who goes back and reads my books when I’m done working on them, but what’s really weird is that on Sunday morning, before I heard anything, I picked up my Kobe book and I read a good portion of it. Maybe 10-15 minutes after I put it down, the phone rang and I just… Like everyone else, I was devastated. I introduced Kobe to George Mumford, the mindfulness guy who was the team psychologist for the Bulls and Lakers. George texted me right away. He had just been called by TMZ. He said, “I thought it was a cruel joke.” That’s what he told me. It has been cruel, but there’s not much joke to it. It’s so tragic.
Millions of people all over the world are grieving and celebrating Kobe’s life right now. Why do you think Kobe resonated with so many people?
RL: Oh, I think that part of it is easy. He had many flaws. He, at one point, literally destroyed his career and then had the will (and the luck) to rebuild it. But the one through line that remained consistent throughout Kobe’s life was his competitive integrity. It was unrivaled, in many ways. He left no stone unturned, no chore undone and he shirked no duty. He trained ridiculously hard, to the point of even doing damage to himself. And he went at it with a pure spirit that was evident in him from his first days playing the game.
When did you first meet Kobe and what was your relationship like over the years?
RL: Early in the 1996-97 season, during his first trip to New York, he declared to the media in the Garden that he was going to be the greatest player of all-time. This was an 18-year-old kid starting his career, but he meant every word of it. This wasn’t some idle, boastful threat. He was rising early every morning to put in more work because practice wasn’t enough for him. He had a circle of friends at Lower Merion who would go into the gym early with him for hours of training. This wasn’t some idle boast. He had all of this ambition. He would tell me, “I just want to be the man.” He would say that over and over: “I just want to be the man.” He wanted to be the greatest of all-time. And, of course, when you start announcing things like that, people start to question your sanity (laughs). It was a little crazy! Right after that New York game, his next game was in Charlotte and that’s when I met him. He made his first NBA field goal, a three-pointer. After the game, he came bouncing out of the locker room and he hit me with a soul shake, as I stood there with my microphone and notebook. He had no idea who I was. But he was eager to greet the world.
He maintained that fierceness and put a lot of pressure on those Lakers veterans as a rookie. He was a nightmare in practice and wouldn’t make things easy for any of them. They viewed him as a kid and they knew he had the big adidas contract, so he was in a different standard. Rick Fox explained to me that the way they viewed him was like the kid who cut in line at the cafeteria. But he won them over. When he was young and frustrated in the ‘90s, I had the password to his hotel room, so I could call him or visit with him and we’d have these long talks. Or I’d see him at the Lakers game and we’d talk. Kobe was a lost guy in those early years with the Lakers. It was sad, and that was when we really talked a lot. That’s why I introduced him to George Mumford. I had George fly down to Houston, so I could introduce him to Kobe courtside. We’re mourning Kobe right now, but I don’t have a tightly packaged narrative about his life.
Vincent Laforet – Getty Images
You wrote books about both Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant. Considering you’ve research both men, what were some of the similarities between the two and what were the biggest differences?
RL: Well, I would always turn that question over to my dear friend Tex Winters because he coached Michael longer than anyone and he was Kobe’s Yoda and protector. When I introduced Tex and Kobe, Tex was a Bulls assistant and Kobe was a lost kid. Tex would always say that the main difference between Kobe and Michael is that Michael went to UNC and played in that very limiting offense for three years. He felt that his experience in that setting at North Carolina prepared him for the NBA and allowed the Bulls to win those six championships. Tex would say that time and again. The difference is Kobe went right from Lower Merion to a very veteran team with the Lakers. It may have been great at first, but it quickly cratered. It became hell for Kobe Bryant and that ultimately led to a lot of his mistakes. He had so much anger and frustration coming out of the ‘90s. Even the championships couldn’t prevent a lot of that. He ended up throwing his parents out of his life; they were controlling and he was in love and wanted to get married. Then, he got rid of his agent, Arn Tellem, who Sonny had gotten for him. Then, he got rid of his deal with adidas. Then, he started in on getting rid of Shaquille O’Neal and Phil Jackson. In the midst of that, he got charged with sexual assault. He was a guy who was tearing apart his world by the numbers. The only thing consistent in all of it was that competitive focus – that unparalleled competitive drive.
There were similarities, though. The first time that I decided I wanted to write about Kobe was just watching him in the post and seeing that he already had all of Jordan’s post moves down. Tex considered Jordan much stronger; he’d say that it was tougher to move Jordan out of the post. But Kobe had studied Jordan so much and had many of his moves down.
What are some things that you learned about Kobe that most fans may not realize? Or what are some misconceptions about him?
RL: I think most people understand what a creative mind he was. But there were a lot of layers to Kobe. And he was so cocky, which only helped feed the assumptions about him. But he had to have all of that confidence [in order to succeed]. His father, Joe, had struggled with inconsistent confidence and it almost became his personal mission to have a confident son. They had their battles. When Kobe finally beat him in one-on-one, Joe would never play him again (laughs).
The one thing that I will say is that before the family split up and had their issues, they lived in a little village outside of Pistoia, Italy. They lived in a beautiful chalet in this little mountain spot. Pam Bryant, Kobe’s mother, would host this beautiful Christmas party every year and all of their friends and family would be there. The Italians loved the Bryants, from the fans to the owner of the Pistoia team. I was talking to the owner of the Pistoia team in 2016 and he knew all about the heartbreak of Kobe and his family splitting up and the lawsuits that followed. He told me, “My dream for them is that we’ll all go back to have one more Christmas in the mountains. Pam’s house will be resplendent and gorgeous and the Bryant family will all be together again.” That was his sincere wish for the Bryant’s. One of the things that I couldn’t help but think about and it’s only made me even sadder is that they’ll never be able to work past all of those things and have that moment.
Looking back, what was your experience writing the Kobe biography?
RL: Well, that’s hard. The Kobe book came on the heels of the huge success of the Jordan book and these publishers put a lot of pressure on me. Suddenly, they had a very tight deadline: They wanted the Kobe book done, from start to finish, in one year. I had gotten burnt out twice while doing the Jordan book. I had never been burnt out before that. When I started the Kobe book, I was so burnt out. But I worked around the clock. I went to Italy, did all the interviews and just really worked overtime. In March of 2016, it was finally all completed and turned in, and that same day, my sister died. Like any rush job in publishing, it’s not a smart thing to do, especially on a 600-page biography. It was a mistake. I should not have agreed to it. I hadn’t been able to unpack Kobe because I was hurting. Then, in all of my anger and grief, I had to go back into that manuscript [and make changes] because it was a rush job and it shouldn’t have been done that way. I made them go past the deadline. It was a battle to make sure that we could extend the deadline and get it right.
The NBA legend was asked about the potential of Rockets guard James Harden breaking his modern record for points per game in a season.
Before his team’s game Saturday in Paris, France, Charlotte Hornets owner and all-time NBA great Michael Jordan took media questions alongside NBA commissioner Adam Silver.
Jordan, who doesn’t often speak to reporters and hadn’t done a press conference in nearly a year, addressed a wide range of basketball topics during his chat. One of those was the potential of Houston Rockets guard James Harden breaking his single-season scoring record.
Jordan averaged 37.1 points per game in the 1986-87 season, which is the most by a guard in NBA history and the most by any player in the last 57 years. For much of the 2019-20 season, Harden’s scoring average has run slightly ahead of Jordan’s incredible clip from 33 years ago.
Entering Sunday, Harden (36.1) had fallen just behind Jordan’s pace, owing to his well-documented slump in January.
[lawrence-related id=22574]
But considering what Harden did for nearly half a season, it’s certainly still possible that the 2018 MVP could turn things around and make one last run at Jordan’s 1986-87 record. Regarding that possibility, Jordan said:
I think all records are a sense of pride for the work that you put into the game. So yeah, I’m happy to have it. I’m happy to have it because I think it showcases actually how much you practiced and the effort that I put into it. I think what you are seeing in James Harden is the same thing. He’s not doing this off the whim. It’s something that he’s worked at and he’s perfected to the point where the results are starting to show.
The game itself is a fun game to watch. A lot more threes. I think the European players have expanded the style of basketball because of the versatility that they have brought to the game which I think is good for the league, which has increased in scoring. So I think it’s just going to keep getting better, and it forces us as Americans how to play a much more rounded basketball game. That’s what the European players have taught us as individuals in the states.
Michael Jordan on James Harden’s league leading scoring: “I think what you are seeing in James Harden is the same thing. He’s not doing this off the whim. It’s something that he’s worked at and he’s perfected to the point where the results are starting to show.” thread below ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/RIyMsNJvAA
Jordan was a six-time NBA champion, a five-time MVP, a 14-time All-Star, and a 10-time NBA scoring champion during his storied career. The Hall of Famer is widely considered to be the greatest player in basketball history.
As for Harden, due to a recent thigh bruise, he’s questionable to play in Houston’s next game on Sunday afternoon in Denver. If he does play, that’ll be the next opportunity for Harden to try and snap out of his slump and resume climbing the ranks of the league’s historic scoring lists.
Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James passed fellow Lakers legend, Kobe Bryant, for No. 3 on the NBA’s All-Time scoring list.
With a driving right-handed layup against the Philadelphia 76ers, LeBron James passed Kobe Bryant for No. 3 on the NBA’s All-Time scoring list. James now only has Karl Malone and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar ahead of him on the All-Time scoring list.
In less than two seasons in a Lakers uniform, LeBron James has passed Michael Jordan for No. 4 on the NBA’s All-Time scoring list and passed fellow Lakers legend Kobe Bryant as well. He did so tonight in Kobe’s hometown of Philadelphia, where he played high school ball at Lower Merion High School. James also scored more points than Kobe and Jordan on fewer field goal attempts.
Overall, Saturday night was a difficult one for James and his Lakers teammates offensively. As of publishing, the Lakers were shooting 11% from the 3-point line against the 76ers and the Lakers trail by 20.
James has never seen himself as a scorer, although the records have him down as one of the three greatest ever in NBA history, and counting. James already owns the record for scoring in postseason NBA history and now he’s about 3,000 points shy of Karl Malone for No. 2 All-Time and a little less than 5,000 shy of passing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for the No. 1 spot on the All-Time scoring list.
Although this was the case before James passed Kobe tonight, all of the players other than Jordan in the top-five in scoring, all played at one point for the Los Angeles Lakers.
In his 17-year career, LeBron has averaged 27.1 points, seven rebounds, and seven assists per game while shooting 50.4% from the field and 34.4% from the 3-point line. So far in 2019-20, James is averaging 25 points, seven rebounds and a career-high 10.8 assists per game.
Speaking in Paris on Friday, the Hall of Famer walked away impressed by the NBA debut of Zion Williamson.
No. 1 overall pick Zion Williamson made his official NBA debut on Wednesday night, recording 22 points in 18 minutes of work, including 17 straight during a three-minute stretch in the fourth quarter.
The debut of Williamson was seen by 2.357 million viewers, which was up 88% from a comparable game last year. The debut brought ESPN a 1.6 rating. The performance by the Williamson offered a glimpse of what he can bring to the New Orleans Pelicans once he is back into game shape and has a few more games under his belt.
Hall of Famer Michael Jordan was among those impressed with his debut game, calling it a glimpse of what we can expect to see from Williamson in the future on Friday as his Charlotte Hornets played the Milwaukee Bucks in Paris, France.
I think what you saw the other night was a taste of what you’re going to see moving forward. He still has a lot to do but we think his passion for the game is coming through the way that he plays and I think that’s great for the league.
Of course, Williamson inked the richest annual shoe contract in NBA history with Jordan Brand prior to the season as he debuted a new Air Jordan XXXIV sneaker on Wednesday night. Jordan said his apparel company was fortunate to land Williamson.
We looked at Zion being an impact player that would bring energy to the game of basketball. We can do it with a lot of different factors and different ways of endorsement and marketing. It was a great opportunity for us. I imagine the league has quite a number of those people but we were very fortunate that he chose us and we look at every opportunity to expand to him the consumers and yet showcase his personality and basketball skills.
After losing a close matchup against the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday, Williamson and the Pelicans return to action on Friday night against the Denver Nuggets.
We’ve never seen Jordan take the diplomatic route, but alas.
The greatest of all time debates in the NBA are probably the most tiresome debates you could possibly have.
There’s always that somebody that says it’s Michael Jordan. Then, you’ve got the person who is probably just barely old enough to buy a beer and doesn’t know what a Tamogatchi is who says it’s undeniably LeBron James.
Then you’ve got the old-head who inserts themselves into the conversation and says something wild like “do you even know what a sky hook is, young fella?” Calm down, grandpa.
Then, of course, you’ve got the Kobe stan who is literally the only person who could possibly think that Kobe Bryant is the greatest basketball player of all time.
Like I said, it’s a tiresome debate. I hate having it. Don’t ask me where I stand.
Apparently, Michael Jordan didn’t feel like having the debate either. When he was asked about the comparisons between he and LeBron as the greatest players of all-time, he took the cop out route. You know the one.
That whole “they played in different eras so we can’t tell!” thing. Yup, he went there.
I expected way more out of Michael Jordan. He literally crafted his Hall of Fame speech around disparaging the opponents that he mopped the floor with for two decades one last time.
He couldn’t give us a little “oh, LeBron? TUH” or something? Jordan could do better.
In all honesty, this is probably the correct answer. But we don’t want the correct answer. We want Michael Jordan’s real answer. This doesn’t feel like that.
I know what we have to do. Next time, somebody just needs to straight up tell MJ that LeBron is better.
He’ll probably come out of retirement to try and prove it wrong.
Michael Jordan, in Paris with the NBA, was asked about comparisons to the Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James as the best all-time.
Things haven’t always been very cordial between Michael Jordan and LeBron James, with arguments between fans raging even more over the last five years about who is the best ever. But while LeBron himself hasn’t shied away from saying that he thought he was the best ever after winning the 2016 title, he’s also always respected Jordan. On Friday afternoon in Paris, Jordan extended some of that same respect in a public forum.
Speaking at an NBA press conference in Paris, where his Charlotte Hornets are set to play the Milwaukee Bucks, Jordan was asked about comparisons to James and avoided answering it directly because they played in different eras, before saying that James’ days of making his mark are far from over, according to ESPN’s Malika Andrews.
Michael Jordan, speaking at a press conference in Paris, on LeBron James/MJ comparisons: “We play in different eras. He’s one of the best players in the world. It’s a natural tendency to compare eras to eras… I think he’s made his mark. He will continue to do so.”
Jordan is a famously competitive person and would never completely give up the title of greatest ever. However, what LeBron has done in his era is undeniable and Jordan recognizes as well as anyone that LeBron’s era is far from ending.
The NBA debut of Pelicans rookie Zion Williamson is so anticipated that ESPN is bumping its marquee game of Nuggets-Rockets to showcase the 19-year-old phenom play his first game against the Spurs in New Orleans on Wednesday, Jan. 22. With that in …
The NBA debut of Pelicans rookie Zion Williamson is so anticipated that ESPN is bumping its marquee game of Nuggets-Rockets to showcase the 19-year-old phenom play his first game against the Spurs in New Orleans on Wednesday, Jan. 22.
With that in mind, let’s take a look back at how NBA legends did in their regular-season debuts.
The Los Angeles Lakers and Space Jam 2 star has a new version of his signature shoes dedicated to the film coming out in 2021.
If you’re a sneakerhead, a LeBron James fan, someone who really loves the Looney Toons, or all of the above, the latest bit of sneaker news to drop from Nike about upcoming releases for All-Star is something you’ve got to check out.
Nike unveiled the Nike LeBron 17 ‘Monstars’ edition, which commemorates LeBron starring in the sequel Michael Jordan’s iconic 1996 film, ‘Space Jam 2.’ They feature incredible ‘Space Jam’ details on the insole and are a shout out to the team of fictional aliens that take the powers of NBA players in the original movie before Michael Jordan has to beat them in a game to get the powers back to the players. The shoes will go on sale in February, according to Sneaker News.
Damian Lillard, who wears No. 0 for the Portland Trail Blazers, is starring in the movie and perhaps the No. 0 on the shoe is a shout out to the fictional alien who will steal his powers in the reboot. With the Lakers in New York City tonight, perhaps this is the day LeBron will take the court in the ‘Monstars’ shoes.
Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James is only 65 points away from passing Kobe Bryant for third on the NBA’s All-Time scoring list.
Although LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers suffered their largest margin of defeat this season on Monday night at the hands of the Boston Celtics, James inched a little closer to passing Kobe Bryant for No. 3 on the NBA’s All-Time scoring list with 15 points.
James now is 66 points away from surpassing Kobe and there’s a very good chance James could do it on Saturday when the Lakers face-off against the Philadelphia 76ers in Kobe’s hometown. With James likely to pass Bryant in the next three games, The Athletic’s Bill Oram got comments from Kobe about what it will be like once LeBron passes him.
“It’s great,” Bryant said. “I think it’s great for him. I mean, the amount of work he’s put in over his career, consistency, I think it’s awesome.”
During last season that was mostly a moot point, LeBron passed Michael Jordan for fourth on the All-Time scoring list in a mostly meaningless game. This season, with the Lakers thriving and in the midst of an important East Coast road trip in cities with rich basketball traditions, New York and Philadelphia, the circumstances for this latest milestone for LeBron can finally match the moment.
Gary Payton opens up about trash-talking, matching up against Michael Jordan, Seattle’s push to get an NBA team again, fatherhood and more.
Gary Payton is one of the best defenders in NBA history and one of the game’s all-time great point guards. The Hall of Famer impacted games in many ways, as evidenced by his career stats: He ranks fourth all-time in steals (2,445), 10th all-time in assists (8,966) and 38th all-time in points (21,813).
In addition to earning Defensive Player of the Year honors in 1996, Payton made nine All-NBA Teams and nine All-Defensive First Teams. He was also a nine-time All-Star, and the NBA recently made him available to encourage fans to vote for the 2020 All-Star Game starters before the deadline on Jan. 20. Fans can vote on NBA.com, on the NBA app or on Google.
HoopsHype spoke one-on-one with Payton and the NBA legend was extremely candid and honest throughout the conversation.
You’re one of the all-time great trash talkers in professional sports. Were there ever any opponents who surprised you with their trash talk? Any guys who chirped back when you didn’t expect it?
GP: (Laughs) Well, whoever I went at didn’t usually come back at me. Reggie Miller’s trash-talking was good, Michael Jordan’s was good. I only got to see Larry Bird twice in two years and he was hurt, really, most of the time. But when he did get on the floor with me, he had a lot of nice ones. He was a chatterbox and I didn’t really know he was like that. But he was! He was cocky and arrogant; he’d go at you and tell you where he was going to shoot it and tell you that he was going to shoot in your face, you know what I’m saying? Those three were the main ones, basically. Then, Kevin Garnett got onto the scene and he would start with his talking. Those were the main ones. Those four guys were the ones who I really wanted to go up against because I knew there’d be some chatter back. Most guys wouldn’t say anything or, if they did, their coach would tell them to be quiet and leave me alone because they didn’t want to wake up the beast. It was one of them things. But it was them four that I really looked forward to playing against.
Do random people ever come up to you on the street and talk trash to you, just so they can say that they’ve talked trash to Gary Payton?
GP: Yeah, that’s a lot of people’s main thing. They’ll see me somewhere and then they’ll say something to try to get me to go back and forth with them. Then, they’re like, “This is all I wanted! This is why I came up to you! They always say that you trash-talked a lot on the court, so we wanted to hear it and see if you trash talk everywhere!” You know if it’s someone who is trying to egg you on to do something. A lot of people, a lot of fans, will do things just because they want to see if they can push your buttons. Sometimes, you’ll go along with it and have fun with it; sometimes, you just have to let it go because some people let it get out of hand. But, yes, it does happen.
You did a phenomenal job of locking up Michael Jordan in the 1996 NBA Finals. It may be one of the best defensive efforts against Jordan. What were those battles with MJ like and do you take pride in the fact that you were one of the toughest defensive matchups he faced?
GP: It was just a challenge. It was like… He was the best offensive player and I was the best defensive player. It was just a challenge. I looked forward to those matchups all the time because I knew if I talked to him, he was going to talk back and we were going to go at it. That would make TV [ratings] go up and a lot of things go up; that’s what we were doing. Then, I would make it a point to challenge myself. I’d think, “I know I can’t stop him, but I can contain him.” You know you’re not going to stop him altogether – that’s not going to happen – so you just focus on how you can slow him down. If he’s usually scoring 35 or 40 points per night, can I hold him to 23 or 24 points? Yeah, I could. I would just make things a little bit difficult for him. If you let any great player be comfortable, they’re going to dominate you. If you take them out of their comfort zone and make them do things that they aren’t used to doing, you’re going to be effective. That’s all I’d try to do with Michael. I tried to pressure him and make it really difficult for him to get the basketball. Then, if he got the basketball, I’d just be a gnat. If you make him miss a couple shots and then you go down on the other end of the floor and you’re scoring on him when he’s guarding you, he’s going to want to come back and go right at you. They get frustrated when the last four or five trips down the floor, I’m scoring and they’re not, especially if the referees aren’t calling anything for them. That’s all I’d try to do. I wanted to get under his skin a bit and see what happens.
When I interviewed Ron Harper, he said that trash-talking would sometimes cause Michael Jordan to flip a switch and take his game to another level. You obviously had a lot of success against Jordan, but did you ever hold back against certain players (or at certain times) because talking trash may have fired your opponent up and helped them?
GP: I didn’t care. That was my whole thing, going in every night and trash-talking because… what can you do? Can you out-talk me? Are you going to get frustrated? Are you going to be focused enough to not concentrate on me throughout the entire game? Because I’m going to continue to talk and continue to play well. I’m going to play well because that’s my game. I never went into a game like, “Let me not talk to this guy.” None of my teammates or coaches ever said that either. They’d say, “Let’s just let Gary do what he do.” That’s what I did. That was my game-plan. I want to get my opponent in a different state of mind. If they’re focusing on me instead of their teammates and the game-plan, I got you. I’m going to trap you in, and then you’re about to get subbed out in a minute because you’re going to start making a lot of mistakes. That was my whole approach.
When I spoke with Michael Cooper, we discussed how he’d fare as a defender in today’s NBA. He said that even though he couldn’t be as physical these days, he’d still lock down today’s stars because of his length and speed. He said Kevin Durant would give him trouble, but he could cover anyone else. Do you ever think about how you’d fare in today’s NBA, defending guys like James Harden and Stephen Curry?
GP: The younger guys always say, “Well, in your era, you guys couldn’t do this or that.” If that’s the case, I wish you could come to our era and play in our era. I wish we had a time machine so that we could put them in our era and see how they would fare. Sometimes, they say, “Well, you couldn’t play in this era because of the shooting and scoring!” Well, when we were in our early 20s, we were pretty athletic and dominant too; that’s why you know about us. It’s just changed. You can’t put your hands on guys. The league is about scoring; they want you to score and they want to run up the points, so it’s entertaining. In our era, we were talking about locking guys down. We were talking about beating you up. We were talking about putting you on your back if you tried to come in the paint and dunk. We wanted you to think that you may get hurt every time you came in the paint. You know what I’m saying? Now, that will get you a flagrant or get you kicked out of the game and they may even suspend you after evaluating it. We didn’t have all of that. We’d put you on your back, they’d look at it and then you’d go on about your business. It’s just so different.
If I played in this era, I would adjust to it. If I played now, the first thing I’d do is go straight to the referees and say, “Look, here’s how I’m going to play. Make sure you let me play defense. If you’re going to let them play offense, let me play defense.” It’s just like what Patrick Beverley is doing right now. He gets into you and, because the referees know what he’s doing and how he plays, they let him play. You just have to get to the point where the refs know how you play, so they adjust. I would probably go talk to all of the refs before every game like, “You know how I play. If you want this game to be okay, let me play defense like you let him play offense. Now, if he pushes off, call it. If I foul him, call it. But let us play.” And then I’m going to go back at my guy on the other end and see if he can guard me. That’s a big difference from our era: We wanted to go back at the player who was scoring on us. Now, there’s all of the switching and stuff. We wouldn’t have played that way. I’m going at that guy, locking him down and making some else beat us.
Are there any current NBA players who remind you of yourself in terms of their game or tenacity? You mentioned Pat Beverley, so I’m guessing he’s one.
GP: There are two: Marcus Smart and Patrick Beverley. They both remind me of myself. They’ll go at you. Beverley is a little bit different because he doesn’t have the offensive game that I had. But Marcus is starting to become that kind of player – he’s starting to score and shoot the ball. But both of them are dogs on the defensive end. My son, [Gary Payton II], has a little of that in him and he’s doing the same thing. He can get at you when he wants to and he’s long for someone who’s 6-foot-3, so his length with hurt you too. When you have them type of guys who can play defense that type of way, it’s always a bonus for their team. When you have a guy who can lock down like that, he’s always giving you great stuff on that end. But can they give you something on the other end? All three of them need to work on their offense. My son needs to work on it, Pat needs to work on it and Marcus is starting to become a good scorer to be a two-way player, but he’s still working on it too. But those three guys remind me of myself defensively.
Last year, Tim Hardaway told me that he used to be really tough on his son, Tim Jr., to the point that they no longer discuss basketball because they agreed it was ruining their relationship. I’ve read that you were very tough on your son, Gary Payton II, and you even walked out of one of his high school games because you weren’t impressed with his effort. You obviously have so much information that you want to share with your son, but how do you find the right balance between pushing him really hard and giving him space to learn on his own?
GP: That’s a good question. It was the same way with me; I was the same way Tim was. I pressed my son too much. He was around basketball all the time and he got pressed a lot. It’s one of those things where you can steer your son away from loving the game of basketball. My son stopped liking it. As of today, he listens, but he don’t listen. It’s gotta come from somebody else. Then, when they don’t make it and they aren’t productive like they want to, you want to go say, “See, what did I tell you? Why don’t you want to listen to me?” But that’s not the right thing to do. So I’ve backed off from my son. When he calls me, if he calls me, I’ll say what I say and then leave it alone. I won’t even go into it anymore. Now that he’s got his guaranteed contract for the first time and he’s staying up, I told him, “You should’ve been doing this since day one.” But they always got excuses. This is a different era and they always got excuses, man. “They should’ve let me play!” or, “They let me play, but [they should’ve] let me do this or that!” It’s not about all that. It’s about seeing what the coach wants and doing it, doing what the organization wants. But, nowadays, I just let him do what he gotta do and however he wants to do it. I just don’t want to stray him away from nothing. And it is hard to listen to the caliber of father than I am, with what I did in the NBA and what I’ve become. It’s hard to do that, especially being named after me. It’s kind of hard and now, I just let it go. I just try to support him. If he calls and wants to talk about something, then I’ll talk about it. Other than that, I don’t call him after games or anything like that; I don’t do that anymore.
Photo by Otto Greule Jr/Getty Images
You’re ambidextrous; you write with your left hand and shoot with your right hand. Obviously, a lot of NBA players learn to be effective with both hands, but you were actually born ambidextrous, so how much do you think that helped you in the NBA?
GP: That was just natural. I can bat on both sides. I shoot pool with my left and write with my left. I can throw left or right. It’s just something that came to me and then, I broke my right thumb when I was young. I had a cast on, so I played with my left hand during that time. That came easy to me. Then, when I got the pros, I posted up on my left side all the time and threw up shots, scoops, hooks or whatever I needed with my left hand. It’s just something that came to me and I was always happy that I could do things with both. Now, it’s still the same thing. People will say, “Why don’t you shoot with your left? Why are you doing that?” When I play Pop-A-Shot in an arcade, people will say, “You’re right-handed, so only shoot with your left!” And I’ll go, “Okay, I’ll shoot with my left!” They don’t read up on me! Then, after the game, they’re like, “Oh man, you’re making even more with your left!” Then, I’ll tell them, “I’m kind of left-handed, if you think about it.” Some people have looked and seen that my watch is on my right side, so they’ll ask, “Are you left-handed?” And I’m like, “Duh!” It’s just kind of fun to mess with people. (Laughs)
I wrote about Seattle’s basketball culture and how Jamal Crawford helps the next generation of Seattle players by training with them and mentoring them. He’s even let some prospects live with him. Jamal said that he’s just passing on what you and Doug Christie did for him when he was young. He said that when he was 15 years old, you guys helped him a lot and let him train with you. Do you remember getting to know Jamal as a teen and how nice is it to see that he’s been able to pay it forward and do the same thing for many young players?
GP: I basically helped raise Jamal. Jamal lived with me for a little bit when he came out of Michigan for one year of college. It’s a great feeling to see a kid like him, who’s so humble, give back to Seattle and do those things. I always knew he was going to be one of a kind because he would always listen and he was so humble. He was never talking about how good he was. And he was so knowledgeable, even when he was younger. What he’d do is pick your brain. Anytime there was an older guy or a veteran around, he would ask questions and try to learn different ways that he could better himself. Now, to see him grooming other players and doing the same stuff that we taught him, it’s a special thing. It’s nice to be able to look at him and say, “He listened! He learned it!” We just wanted to help him. Now, he’s doing that for other guys – and they’re going to listen to him and learn from him, so that they can be the next guys who do this and help the next generation.
Speaking of Seattle, what would it mean for you to stand in Key Arena and have your jersey retired in front of those fans at some point in the future?
GP: It would mean a lot to me. Those fans really were the ones who made everything happen for me. I was there for 13 seasons and that’s where I became a Hall of Famer. And the fans deserve it. I think they deserve to see that happen, just like they deserve to see Shawn Kemp’s jersey raised up and Detlef Schrempf’s jersey raised up – not just mine. You know what I’m saying? It would be great for those fans to see that and feel that because I know they’d go crazy, and it would be a great moment for myself too. I hope that we have an opportunity to do that. I do think it will come. I think basketball will get back to Seattle.
You’ve gotten involved with the fight to bring the NBA back to Seattle and you’ve said that the city could have a team in the next three-to-four years. Do you still think Seattle will get a team in the next few years and what are some things Seattle is doing to become even more appealing?
GP: I’m involved in that. We have a team of people who are really involved with that and we’re talking with Adam [Silver] all the time. We’re getting there. First of all, we have to make sure that we have an arena to play in. Key Arena is getting revamped for the hockey team that’s going to be there in 2021. After that, a lot of other little things have to happen like the TV deal has to come up again and we have to see if we can get a basketball team. They know. Like I said, Adam Silver is listening. We have a group that I’m a part of that is really, really working on it, so we just have to hope that it happens. We’re just laying low right because we want to make sure that everything is right so that when we that time comes and we do get that opportunity, they can be ready to move right in and give us that team.
I loved seeing you and Shawn Kemp back together for ESPN’s recent Monday Night Football intro prior to the Seahawks-Vikings game. It generated a huge response among fans too. How did that idea come together and what did you think of the fan reaction?
GP: It was something that the guys ESPN came up with and they got in touch with me and my people. Kenny Mayne from ESPN was really the one who really got it started. He told them, “I’ll get in touch with Gary,” because me and Kenny are really tight. He got in touch with me and when I heard the concept, I thought, “That’s great.” I knew it would trigger a lot of [nostalgia] and feelings about the Sonics. People hadn’t seen Shawn and I together in a long period of time. To see us doing that for the Seahawks and getting the fans ready for Monday Night Football against Minnesota, it was fun.
You reached the NBA Finals with three different teams – the 1996 Sonics (with Kemp), the 2004 Lakers (with Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O’Neal and Karl Malone) and the 2006 Heat (with Shaq and Dwyane Wade). Having seen what it took for three different franchises to reach the Finals, what would you say are the biggest keys to a team advancing that deep? Are there any specific characteristics that all three of those teams had in common?
GP: The Seattle team was a little bit different because we were already really good all year. We were really, really good. The other two teams, the Heat and the Lakers, we struggled, but then we got into a rhythm. When you get into a rhythm and get everyone on the same page at the end of the year, anything can happen. At the beginning of the year with that Lakers team, we were good and then Karl Malone got hurt so we went through a lull. I played all 82 games that year, but the other three guys didn’t play as many games and so we needed other players to step up. Then, we got into a rhythm and our team got that unity.
With the 1996 Sonics team, we were already there. We were the No. 2 team in the NBA right behind Chicago; people don’t remember that we won 64 games that year and they won 72, so we weren’t too far behind them. We beat them once during the season too, so we were one of their 10 losses. To me, you have to be in a rhythm at the end of the season, unless you’re a great team that wins all season long – like this Milwaukee team. This Bucks team can win a championship; they’re playing like we were in ’96, playing great all season. To me, you have to be in a rhythm and you have to be together. You need everyone to be clicking and playing well at the same time. That’s what we did in Miami, that’s what we did with the Lakers and that was happening the whole season in Seattle. The two Finals losses is that we just couldn’t overcome a great team. Detroit was playing really well to beat us in 2004. With Chicago in 1996, we [showed up] too late against them. We got over the hump in Miami in 2006 because we were able to take down that Dallas team. But I think rhythm and unity is what it’s all about.
You, Jason Kidd and Damian Lillard are all from Oakland. I know you really pushed Kidd when he was in high school, making him better and toughening him up, and you’ve mentored Lillard too. All three of you guys play have a similar poise and swagger. Why do you think Oakland keeps producing superstar point guards and would you agree that there are certain characteristics that you guys have in common because of your similar backgrounds?
GP: Yeah, I think we have a chip on our shoulder because of where we come from. You come out of the neighborhood and you’re always hearing about New York, Philly, L.A. and people say, “They’ve got the best basketball players!” You always hear that. I always said, “Well, why don’t you come down to the North. Come to Northern California! Let’s see what you can do here and see if you can do the same things you do everywhere else.” A lot of people come to Northern California and then they get these guards like us and they’re like, “Whoa!” But we’re not really pressed with all that. When you’re from this neighborhood, you go to different blocks and you go up against different players and we prove ourselves. I think we all have a chip on our shoulder and we want to prove everybody wrong. That’s what we do. We also had JR Rider, Antonio Davis… A lot of people don’t know this, but Bill Russell grew up in Oakland. Paul Silas grew up in Oakland. We have a lot of great basketball players, great baseball players, great people coming out of Oakland. It’s just that we don’t need to prove nothing until we get to the highest level. Go ahead and overlook us, but then look what happens. You end up with two Hall of Famers in me and Jason, and Dame is going to be one too. We just have a chip on our shoulder because people want to overlook us.
