Gary Payton
(Kalb: #36, Simmons: #40, BBR: #36)
Gary Payton may have been the best two-way point guard in the history of the league, getting it done consistently on both ends of the floor for more than a decade, and he played on some pretty good teams, missing the playoffs just twice in his 17-year career.
In 1995-96, Michael Jordan had just returned from his first retirement, and the Bulls had set an NBA record with 72 wins in the regular season, and then they walked right through the first three rounds of the playoffs with an 11-1 record, giving them an overall record of 83-11 up to that point. It may not seem like much, but the Sonics took two games from the Bulls in the Finals, which was quite an accomplishment considering that Chicago had only lost about once every three weeks during the previous 7 months. Payton was the star of that team, and probably would have won a title in any other season.
Payton's teammate, Shawn Kemp, started to go downhill after that season, leaving Payton without a teammate to help him return to the Finals. Over the next two years Seattle lost in the second round, but Payton was still putting up great numbers, which are below:
Payton - 23.9 pts, 4.5 reb, 7.9 ast, 2.0 stl, .438 FG%, .352 3P%, .874 FT%
He did eventually get back to the NBA Finals twice, once in 2004 with the Los Angeles Lakers, where he was just an average starter, then again with Miami in 2006, when he was no longer a relevant player, but still earned himself a championship ring in his 16th season.
As I mentioned above, Payton was more than just a great offensive player, he was also one of the top defensive point guards of all time. He led the league in steals once, in 1996, the same year he was named Defensive Player of the Year. He averaged over 2 steals per game 8 times, and still ranks #4 all time in total steals. In addition, he was named to the All-Defensive First Team 9 straight times, meaning that he was considered the best defensive point guard in the league for almost an entire decade.
Payton, like Cousy, was the best guard in the league at one point, but Payton did it when there was a lot more competition, and his 2000 season was amazing, with 24.2 points, 6.5 rebounds, 8.9 assists, and 1.9 steals per game. Cousy had more playoff success, but he was only the top player on a Finalist twice, just once more than Payton. Payton's peak was higher, and he lasted a couple years longer than Cousy, plus he played in an era when there was more competition for the top spot, so the guy who was undeniably great on both ends gets the slight edge.
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