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Gary Payton says a lot of NBA teams don’t value his son’s worth originally appeared on NBC Sports Northwest
Basketball runs in his blood, literally.
If you didn’t know by now, Gary Payton II has a pretty legendary basketball player as father. Payton Sr. is a Seattle SuperSonics legend, a Basketball Hall of Famer, a point God, and one of the greatest to ever suit up for the Oregon State Beavers.
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Like dad, Payton II started his career in college playing at Oregon State before taking his talents to the NBA. After collecting Defensive Player of the Year honors with the NBA G League’s Raptors 905, he is getting his shot to show the Golden State Warriors what he’s made of.
On the latest episode of NBCS Bay Area’s “Dubs Talk,” Payton Sr. shared some insight on his talented son and the multitude of skills he can bring to the table for the Warriors.
“He plays so old-school right now, a lot of teams don’t really value his worth,” Payton said. ”He likes to play D, he likes to get everybody involved, he wanna be that 10, 10, 10 guy. I’m just happy that he stayed working out and stayed getting it, now that Golden State is giving him an opportunity, I think Steve Kerr knows what he can get from him…
Just put him in the game, get a good 12 or 13 minutes from him, hound the best player on the team, the guard and then he can bring his other fellas in the game and close the game out.
– Gary Payton
Like “The Glove,” who is considered one of the greatest defenders in NBA history, Payton II has showed he can be a spark-plug for the Warriors on defense.
After Payton II recorded 10 points, four rebounds, four steals and a block in just nine fourth quarter minutes vs. the Thunder on April 14, Coach Steve Kerr said, “My assistant coaches have been telling me when we put him in, we’re not going to want to take him out because of his defense.”
That defensive prowess led the Warriors to convincingly sign him to a second 10-day contract. In eight games with the Warriors, Payton II has averaged 1.8 points, 0.9 rebounds, and 0.6 steals in 2.6 minutes of play.
Overall, the fifth-year guard posts averages of 3.4 points, 2.2 rebounds and 1.3 assists in 11.9 minutes over 66 games (23 starts) with the Milwaukee Bucks, Los Angeles Lakers, Washington Wizards and Warriors.
Payton II is staying hungry and ready in hopes that hard work will soon pay off with him being signed to a deal for the remainder of the season.