Right now the NBA talent pool at the point guard position has never been deeper.
From top-to-bottom, the league is full of some of the best point guards, arguably, this league has ever seen.
Any matchup on the schedule likely contains one of them, if not a “must-watch” matchup. There are games that you could focus solely on the two players playing point guard and enjoy the game.
At the moment, and in no particular order, Chris Paul, Deron Williams, Derrick Rose, Russell Westbrook, Kyrie Irving, Tony Parker, Steve Nash, Rajon Rondo, and Stephen Curry—to name a few—rule the league. Jason Kidd, who will one day be inducted into the Hall of Fame, retired this offseason.
They all resemble a different basketball legend, but there is no doubt they all posses a little of Gary Payton (aka “The Glove”), who was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame on Sunday.
Congratulations to garypayton_20 on the HOF induction! One of the best point guards to ever play the… http://t.co/YZLbdjgXiN
— Deron Williams (@DeronWilliams) September 8, 2013
Payton played 17 NBA seasons, the last of which ended in a much deserved NBA championship with the Miami Heat in 2006-07. His career averages—16.3 points, 6.7 assists, 3.9 rebounds and 1.8 steals per game—don’t scream Hall of Fame. Those numbers, however, are skewed by a few “ring-chasing” years, if you will, toward the end of Payton’s career.
Make no mistake, for an 11 year period, Payton was a living legend, perfecting the craft of defense at the guard position, and wreaking havoc on his opponents on a nightly basis.
His best season, statistically, was in 1999-’00 when he averaged 24.2 points, 8.9 assists, 6.5 rebounds and 1.9 steals per game. In the playoffs that year, Payton upped his level of play—as he often did—averaging 25.8 points, 7.4 assists and 7.6 rebounds.
Along with Shawn Kemp, he led the 1996 Seattle SuperSonics to the NBA Finals where they lost to Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls.
Payton was only 6-4 but he was every bit of a monster, and Oregon State’s pride and joy.
If you missed the majority of Payton’s career (or don’t believe the hype), take a look at his Hall of Fame reel and induction speech below.
Payton was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame along with Bernard King, Rick Pitino and Jerry Tarkanian, among others.
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Ben Baroff is a basketball journalist who blogs for SheridanHoops.com. Follow him on Twitter here.