Draymond Green stepped off the pitch and waved his arms at the stands. More than 18,000 fans inside the Chase Stadium chanted "G-P-2" neatly at his instigation. The cheers were specially given to Gary Payton II, and everyone in the room witnessed a 22-point victory and a career moment for Peyton Jr.: 14 points, 5 rebounds and 3 steals, as well as the powerful dunk that was thrown at the head of the Warriors' veteran Oubre.
Gary Payton II, hearing the name, NBA fans may be able to react to who he is, because his father", "Glove" Payton, is famous enough.
But as the Warriors reporter described: "He and his dad have nothing to do with him except his name." ”
It was precisely the nightmare that Little Payton had been haunting—he wouldn't have wanted to call it that name at all if he could choose.
His father, Gary Payton, had just been named to the NBA's 75th Biggest Star of All Time, nicknamed "Glove," describing him sticking to people on the defensive end and clinging to them like baseball gloves. This nickname was also talked about by himself, and was named one of the best player nicknames in history.
When the young Peyton walked onto the court, they called him "gloved second generation", and some even called him "Gary Payton's son".
He didn't like it when people called him that because the gloves belonged to his dad, and he didn't want to be the second one; on the other hand, his playing style was completely different from his dad's. So, he wanted to have a name that belonged only to himself.
Mom knew what her son was thinking, so she helped him figure out a name and asked him, "Everybody says you need a new nickname, 'Weird Thief.'" ”
Little Payton didn't know if it was good or not, but he still accepted the name "Strange Thief" because he thought in his heart: whatever it is called, it is better than "Glove II".
When he was in school, he could always hear the whispers of his classmates:
"Why didn't your dad teach you to play?"
"You deserve to be compared to your dad?"
"You can get into the team because your dad pays for it."
Those who don't know Little Payton will naturally think of a scene: a idle but untalented second generation of the ball, relying on his father's relationship to blend into the team, on his toes to command his teammates. From time to time, I talk about things with my father's sponsorship.
But this is not the case.
Old Payton loved his son very much, so when he was very young, he took him into the stadium. So Peyton Jr. has been a regular at seattle's supersonics. Schramf and Vinbek liked him, and when big stars like Garnett and Carter arrived, The elder Payton would use his fame and status to call the stars to take photos with their sons.
So Peyton Jr. is a little caddie at supersonic speed. Sometimes he also plays the mascot of the mini version of the team, making the players and the audience laugh.
But Little Payton soon realized that they just liked his funny or ridiculous look, not the person he was.
He began to hate it all, and basketball became the thing he hated the most.
In high school, Little Payton sometimes deliberately didn't train well, just playing a few minutes of garbage time occasionally, and he wanted to hurry through high school without continuing to play basketball. He remembers playing as a kid, his dad would watch him play from the sidelines and the fans would frantically rush over to get autographs. Old Peyton was humble and polite, fulfilled the requirements one by one, and said thank you. Then the audience walked away, and no one cared what was happening on the field.
"I don't want to see that all the time," Payton Jr. said, "and a few times I told him not to come and see the ball." ”
His inferiority is understandable, and although he and his father have the same height of 1.91 meters, their styles are completely different. In addition to his historic defense, the elder Payton is certainly the top organizer and ball-handler in history. But Payton Jr., despite his excellent athleticism and arm span, is more like a small striker, and he does not have a sense of "glove" at all on the defensive end, preferring to be one-on-one with singles, relying on arm span and explosive power to interfere with opponents.
What he was upset about was that if he wasn't called Gary Payton II, he wouldn't have been assigned to play point guard, and he wouldn't have been pointed out by those around him when playing point guard: At this level? Is this the son of a super point guard?
"It's not fair to him," said Payton Sr., "that he should have his own accomplishments and not always be compared to his dad." ”
Before college, the only thing Peyton Jr. could feel was pressure.
He went to the preparatory school and was surprised to see his teammates hungrily completing every training session, albeit at a very average intensity and level. Those peers expressed their envy for Peyton Jr.'s top physical condition while trying to prepare for ordinary games, eager to win every game. Little Payton was so shocked that he went back to tell his mother that not everyone's sky was pressing against a goal that could never be surpassed, and that basketball itself could be happy.
He began to play in his own way and naturally became a fast attacker who was excellent defensively opposed but preferred to play counter-attacks. He jumped from specialty to NCAA and wanted to break into the NBA on his own.
One day, he encountered something that completely touched him.
After that game, there was still a group of people around his father asking for autographs, and he walked to the side of the field with a towel and found several fans handing him pens and books.
"My dad is in the back, wait a minute." He said.
"No, we want your signature," they said, "and you played awesome." ”
In his second year of college in Oregon, he averaged 16 points, 7.8 rebounds and 5 assists per game, plus 2.5 steals, and was named the best defender in the division for two consecutive years and was nominated for the best in the Associated Press. But this year, he was 23 years old, so he lost the election normally.
He chose to continue the struggle, starting with the Development Alliance. He was rated by the development league's official website as a player who has exhausted his physical strength to defend. And the day he had the right to fire, he scored 51 points on 20-of-29 shooting.
The Bucks gave him a contract, and he finally hit the NBA, though there were only six games that year; then came the Lakers' two-way contract, and in the final game of the season, he had 25 points and 12 rebounds, but after playing this game, he was unemployed again.
At the Wizards, he conquered the team with the stats of the first 8 games averaging 2.3 steals per game and signed him until the end of the season, the team he played the most in the NBA jersey, starting in 17 of 29 games and playing as a small forward. The following year, he returned to the Development League, where he won the Best Defensive Player in the Raptors 905 and played 10 more games with the Warriors at the end of the season.
Over the years, there have been 4 NBA teams and 5 development league teams, which also includes the Vipers under the Rockets. He played 71 games in the NBA and 128 in the Development League.
He's about to turn 29, but he still wants to keep playing in the NBA.
Before the start of the 2021-22 season, Payton Jr. returned to the Warriors for training camp to compete with Avery Bradley, Michael Mulder and Jordan Bell for the last place on the team's roster. The Warriors cut all four before the preseason began, and at this point, both Curry and Green wanted the team to keep Bradley, but management went against their will and initially planned to start the new season with just 14 people.
A few days later, Bradley was claimed by the Lakers, and the Warriors realized that the 14ers seemed to be a bit inadequate, so Payton Jr. unexpectedly regained his chance and put on the Warriors' No. 0 jersey again.
This Warriors No. 0 has always been a sought-after item in the fan store, and its previous owners, McCaw, Cousins, and Russell, have all been pinned high hopes on by the team. But Payton Jr. wasn't — he was a casually signed mercenary by the injured Warriors, the Bradley spare tire and useless dragon suit in the eyes of fans — at least that's what everyone thought at the time.
But the Warriors are such a team that has turned decay into magic, and there is a dog spirit in this team, Damian Lee, Juan Tuscano Anderson, they have all been like Peyton Jr., lost in the draft, went to develop the league, and now found their place in the NBA, becoming excellent role players.
In the first two games of the season, Payton Jr. played 7 seconds in one and 3 seconds in one. In the third game, Coach Kerr changed the rotation and experimented with Putton Jr. in the role of the eighth man on the team, but he scored 10 points in 17 minutes and shot 2 of 2 on the least good three-pointer.
"What I'm trying to say is that I play for a few minutes, and a few seconds don't matter. I really want to play, be a teammate on the bench that everyone likes, and if my number is called, I'll go all out, I really want a chance, I've been waiting for five years. ”
He began to get steady time, scoring 12 points, 4 rebounds, 2 steals and 1 block against the Hornets In 12 and a half points against the Hornets, who had more than 5 minutes without scoring after his mid-third quarter appearance. Kerr and the Warriors players on the sidelines saw not just the dunk, but also the energy he had to fight for every ball and the desire for chance.
Two days later, on the same field, with the same 17-and-a-half points, Payton Jr. shot 7-of-10 and had 17 points, six rebounds and three assists, and the Warriors won the Pelicans by 41 points.
The game against the Hornets went through the final three minutes, and Bridges, who had 32 points, drove straight in and knocked curry away from the dunk, and Payton Jr. caught up with him and gave him a big hat.
After the game, when Bridges was asked about the Warriors' most impressive player of the game, he didn't answer the standard answer of "Curry", but said: "Gary dominated the game with defense, locked us up, he was the Warriors' leader on the defensive end." Clay also grabbed the microphone on the sideline and shouted, "I can watch his defense all night." ”
The media also began to praise him, and they began to associate Little Payton with his father again, calling him "Young Glove", but some people did not know that it was a name he hated to hear.
The good thing is that his chance really came, Kerr said, and Payton Jr. injected life into the Warriors, and he would be in the 8th to 10th place rotation.
The Warriors are no. 1 in the league in defensive efficiency this season, and have limited their opponents' single-quarter points to less than 20 points in six of their last three games. In Payton Jr.'s presence, the Warriors scored 41 points per 100 possessions.
The number of players who are proficient in offense in the NBA is uncountable, but those who are willing to defend will always have a foothold.
Since he has a natural talent, why waste it?
Who said that gloves must mean the same as Dad everywhere, who can now say that he is not capable of playing the middle school team, he is now a real NBA rotation player.
Gloves have long been a word that has been integrated into his bones and blood.
The teammates knew he didn't like that name, and usually called him Gary, which was too common, so after the game that day, they shouted into the microphone, "Let him choose a nickname!" ”
As if with great determination, he said seriously to the camera, "Then, call me 'Glove II'!" ”