Gary Payton: Sports Section Oldie but Goodie

I'm back with another week of the Oldies But Goodies Hall of Fame. This week it's Gary Payton, 38, of the Miami Heat to be inducted. Before we start with the induction I would like to mention a little about Gary. He is a great NBA players that has played for many teams including the, Seattle Supersonics, Miami Heat, Boston Celtics, Los Angeles Lakers, and Milwaukee Bucks. He has won the 1996 NBA Defensive Player of the Year and the 1996 and 2000 Olympic Gold medal with the Men's' United States team.

Gary Payton has played point guard most of his career. Starting out at Skyline High School in Oakland, California. From there he attended Oregon State University. While there he was featured on the March 5, 1990 cover of Sports Illustrated magazine as the nation's best college basketball player. He was also an All-American in 1990; three-time All-Pac-10 selection, and named the Pac-10 conference's 1987 Freshman of the Year. He was the MVP of the Far West Classic tournament three times and was the Pac-10 Player of the Week nine times. He also was named to the Pac-10's All-Decade Team.

Payton was the second overall pick in the 1990 NBA Draft by the Seattle SuperSonics, and spent his first 12 and a half seasons with the Sonics. Entering the league with big star expectations, Payton struggled during his first two seasons in the league, averaging 8.2 points per game during that span. However, he soon proved himself to be one of the league's top point guards. While with the Sonics he was on the All-NBA Third team in 1994. He was selected to the All-NBA First-Team in 1998 and 2000, All-NBA Second Team in 1995, 1996, 1997, 1999, and 2002, and All-NBA Third Team in 1994 and 2001. He was selected to the NBA All-Defensive First Team a record nine consecutive seasons too between 1994 and 2002, and won the NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award in 1996. To top it all off he has been selected to the NBA All-Star Team nine times, starting in two of his selections.

At the trade deadline in the 02-03 season Payton was sent to the Milwaukee Bucks in a five-player deal that sent Ray Allen to Seattle. Payton played the remaining 28 games with the Bucks and signed as an unrestricted free agent before the 2003-04 season he signed with the Los Angeles Lakers. Before the 04-05 season Gary Payton was again traded but this time to the Boston Celtics for Chris Mihm, small forward Jumaine Jones and point guard Chucky Atkins. In for another trade Payton this time went to the Atlanta Hawks for Antonie Walker. Being waived a week later by the Hawks he returned to the Celtics to start a total of 77 games that season and make it to the playoffs only to lost to the Indiana Pacers.

On September 22, 2005, he signed a one-year $1.1 million contract with Miami. During that season Payton finally won his first NBA Championship in his sixteenth season in the NBA. On September 6, 2006, the 38-year old Payton re-signed with the defending champion Miami Heat on a one-year, $1.2 million contract. During the 2006-07 NBA season, Payton moved from 17th to 8th in all-time NBA games played, passed John Havlicek and Robert Parish to move into 7th in all-time minutes played, and passed Hal Greer and Larry Bird to become the 21st-highest scorer in NBA history.