It was 15 years ago, but Gary Payton II remembers it like it were yesterday. Bundled in a coat as he prepared to leave practice and enter the chilly afternoon in New York, he broke into a big smile just thinking about it again.
It was a day of jubilee in Miami, about 90 degrees and sunny that June afternoon. The Heat, after coming back from a 2-0 deficit to knock off Dallas in the 2006 NBA Finals, celebrated in the streets with a parade. His Hall of Fame dad was a backup point guard on that team, winning his first and only title. So Payton, 13 at the time, had a behind-the-scenes experience of championship joy.
Advertisem*nt
Dwyane Wade, just crowned king after being unguardable in propelling the Heat over the Mavericks, was in such good spirits he interacted with fans in a most intimate way. One on one. He invited anyone to come guard him. It was enough to pull Payton from behind the velvet rope. He wanted all the smoke from Wade. He stepped right in front of the Finals MVP and got into a defensive position. The entire Mavericks roster had no answer for Wade. But Payton was not deterred. Instead inspired.
“I was still a youngin’ but, still, I remember that,” Payton said. “I was like, ‘I’m here. I’m ready.’ It’s D-Wade. Of course he scored on me. But I did get one stop. I know I can do this.”
The same mindset that made him happily jump in front of one of the toughest guards in league history, as a middle schooler, is still with Payton. He was fashioned from a different era. He was a pup watching his father and Nate McMillan locking up guards for the Sonics in the 1990s. He became a little kid on the courts who knew the only way he’d get the ball was to go take it. He grew into a high school hooper enamored with Kobe Bryant’s ability to smother defensively and turn it into a highlight on offense. He became a college hooper enamored with Tony Allen and Avery Bradley.
That old era is in his head. It’s how he thinks the game. It’s in the DNA of his play. If you watch close enough, you can see it. He’s always touching his man, so much so that his hand often gets knocked away. He’s always up on them, just enough space for them to make a mistake but not nearly enough to feel comfortable. And he knows it’s working when the ball-dominant guards do one particular thing.
“When they see me, and they tell somebody else to come bring the ball up,” Payton said, explaining his defensive approach as the Warriors prepared to face the Nets. “You don’t want the ball? That’s what I want. When they’re like ‘I’m not trying to bring it up. I’m not trying to deal with this guy.’ Then I did my job.”
Payton evokes such a shift with his 94 feet of intensity. He’s picking up on the inbounds and he’s determined to hound the ballhandler. It’s as much a statement as it is strategy. This is what he does. And he’s willing to put his craft against the best.
On defense, nothing is more on an island than picking up way in the backcourt, far from the help of teammates. Vulnerability abounds in that open space.
But Payton’s confidence makes him feel right at home in that space. He doesn’t talk trash. That part of his pops didn’t get passed down. But his on-ball style might as well be a form of it. He isn’t applying token pressure to slow up an offense. Payton is trying to overwhelm. He isn’t defending against offense as much as he is attacking will, so it goes in his mind.
“The league already made it where guys don’t like to be touched,” he said. “So I’m just gon’ touch ’em. It’s that simple. As you can see … a lot of guys don’t like to be touched.
“Nobody touches them. Nobody’s in their face,” he continued. “They let them do what they want to do. I’m not about to let you sit here and size me up, get in your package. No. I’m not about to let you do that. You gon’ go one way. If not, you gon’ get up off that ball. And it’s gon’ be hard for you to get it back. By the time you get it back, you gon’ be tired and you gon’ settle. Let’s go.”
LaMelo got “up off that ball” against Payton. So did James Harden.
As Payton talks, with such matter of factness in his tone, it is clear he is championing a philosophy. He’s 28, and 87 games into a career that finally has some traction. But he’s a relic from a bygone era. A time when the NBA was a two-party system and defense had its side of the aisle.
The NBA took a step towards recognizing that end of the court by cracking down on offensive players drawing fouls. The league has told officials to not reward non-basketball moves, a crumb thrown to defenders in a system set up for scorers.
Advertisem*nt
But Payton is looking to do his part to bring defense back by being a weapon for the Warriors. His special skill comes in incredibly handy for Golden State, which, for its championship years. relied on Klay Thompson to be the spear of its defense. With him missing two seasons and yet to return this year, and the front office leaning offense during free agency, the Warriors entered the season with a big question mark about what they would do against the better perimeter players.
Now, they have a specialist in Payton and his value is evident already. He has a steal in 11 consecutive games, multiple steals in six of those. His 20 on the season is tied for second in the NBA among reserve guards, bested only by Alex Caruso’s 30. Opponents are shooting 35 percent on shots defended by Payton, 11th lowest among reserve guards (10 games minimum).
And Payton is third on the Warriors with 37 deflections, per NBA Stats. Only Stephen Curry (42) and Draymond Green (38) have more but both stars have played more than half the minutes as Payton.
Much like in football where pass rushers are so valuable because quarterbacks are so important, perimeter defenders in basketball are valuable because the league is full of scoring guards.
“Over the years, this league has transferred into the 30 show,” Payton said, referencing Steph Curry. “Everybody wants guys that can do what 30 do. Everybody wants shooters, shooters, shooters to just shoot that thing so they can space the floor. But what about on the other side when they come at you? And they’ve got superstars like what you just paid for? You’ve got to be able to get a stop on those guys, make it tough for those guys, and then come back down and let the $200 million man do what he do.”
With the Warriors, he has the luxury of similar-minded players in Green and Andre Iguodala. They’re guiding him to the right positions, giving him intel he can use, answering his questions and giving him up-close models to watch.
They share in his belief in positioning, in calculated attacks, in the value of baiting offensive players to do what they want. He’s under the tutelage of masters.
Advertisem*nt
“It’s being in the right position, not just for yourself but for your teammates, to make play,” Payton said. “Draymond knows how to put himself in the position to where they won’t go to that action, because they know Draymond’s going to mess it up. So I just try to put myself and my team in situations where they won’t go to certain actions or they know if they try to go there, it’s going to be tough.”
Payton has long felt like his slashing and finishing at the rim is valuable on offense, especially considering the defense he is going to bring. But it hasn’t panned out that way until the Warriors signed him this year. And they only did so after they stocked the roster with shooting and had one spot remaining to dedicate to perimeter defense.
His lack of perimeter shooting didn’t stop him from getting a roster spot this year. But he knows his staying power is tied to his outside shot.
Payton was 21-for-82 from 3-point range (25.6 percent) when he joined the Warriors’ organization. Since then, his shot looks to have more potential.
He made his first four 3s of the season and then regressed to the mean, missing nine of his next 10 attempts. But he’s bounced back lately, making four of five over the last two games, including a career-high tying three makes in the win over Detroit.
He enters Wednesday’s game against Philadelphia at 9 of 19 from 3 on the season (47.4 percent). More important for the Warriors’ offense, he’s made half of his corner threes.
“I just gotta shoot it with confidence and and just knock it down,” Payton said. “Everything else I’m doing, cutting and whatever, I can still get my offense off. But the next step is if I hit this corner 3 at a high volume, it’s gon’ be a problem. It’s gon’ be a problem. If I can pick that up the rest of the season, shoot over 40 (percent), 45, I think I’d be all right.”
Advertisem*nt
Making open 3s at an acceptable rate keeps him on the floor. The longer he is on the floor, the more time he has to impose his will and get across the message that he wants to define his career.
Gary Payton II is not going anywhere. He’s going to be right there. As soon as the ball is inbounded. In their face. Touching them. Making them feel him. Making his man come off the ball, one way or another.
“That’s just how I play defense. I’ve been around it too long. Watching guys in the league, seeing how guys play and handle everybody, and everybody just lets everybody be comfortable. I just try to take the comfort away.”
(Top photo: Ezra Shaw / Getty Images)
Marcus Thompson II is a lead columnist at The Athletic. He is a prominent voice in the Bay Area sports scene after 18 years with Bay Area News Group, including 10 seasons covering the Warriors and four as a columnist. Marcus is also the author of the best-selling biography "GOLDEN: The Miraculous Rise of Steph Curry." Follow Marcus on Twitter @thompsonscribe
