Gary Payton Sr. is a former professional basketball player who played the point guard position. Widely considered one of the greatest point guards of all time, he is best known for his 13-year tenure with the Seattle SuperSonics, where he holds 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.[1] In October 2021, Payton was named to the NBA 75th Anniversary Team.[2]

Payton is the first point guard to win the NBA Defensive Player of the Year award, and the only point guard winner in the award’s first 39 years, until Marcus Smart was selected in 2022.[3][4] 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.[5] He was also a nine-time NBA All-Star and a nine-time All-NBA Team member. Payton was called “probably as complete a guard as there ever was”[6] by Basketball Hall of Famer Gail Goodrich.

Born and raised in Oakland, California, Payton played high school basketball at Skyline High School, before heading north in 1986 to attend Oregon State University in Corvallis.