The trash-talking, I think I would like to take that back. I really didn't want to get known as that, but that was just the way I was, the way I grew up back in Oakland, Calif., back on the playgrounds.
— Gary Payton
Because of how I am on the court, people think I'm wild and crazy. But really, I'm a kick-back guy, so Seattle suits me fine.
You don't just come in and say, 'Bam, I'm mature; I'm the leader.' It took time for me to grow into this and learn how to talk to certain players and how to handle certain situations.
I was really excited about going to Miami because of coach Riley. And getting with him has been a change for me and really good for me.
I like comfortable clothes, so I get most of my pants and shirts made.
Larry Bird was a talker. He'd tell you something and you'd be like, are you kidding me? You're really telling me that?
You don't have to like me, but I'm going to tell you the truth. If you don't like what I'm saying, then go out and prove it.
LeBron is making a case for himself to be one of the greatest players to ever play.
I don't give a damn about MVP.
Coaching is something I really would do. A lot of people don't think I'm serious about it. I like working with the kids. When you work with the guys one-on-one and get them to understand it's a little bit better. That's the way I was taught by Tim Grgurich. That's how he taught us.
My father and my brother are chefs.
The point guards that I like are the ones that are playing like point guards.
I can't think ok, I got 35 points, he got 35, I did something good.
I did a lot of things I regret.
I became real good friends with John Stockton and Karl Malone and am still good friends with them to this day. It was always good to go see them and then play with them in the 1996 Olympics as well. I idolized John Stockton at the time, I tried to model my game after him.
To go into Key Area every day, sold out, it was hard to come in there and get a win against us. That's when we used to make people understand, you can't come in and get a win against us. We were probably one of the hardest arenas to win in. Our fans were crazy. They would camp out.
As far as talking on the court was concerned, the whole family was behind me on that.
I hope they'll say I was one of the hardest-working basketball players on both ends of the floor.
The NBA tries to be about flash. But real fans recognize the guy who makes things happen.
When I made it to the pros I wanted to be a guy who could stay in the league, be OK, do whatever I had to do to make some money and do what I do. As the years started coming, I started getting better.
I'm always going to admire my father more than anybody in life.
I've loved my days at Oregon State.
To let somebody get 30 points on you, and you feel good because you got 35 on them, that's not good for me, you know what I'm saying? If I get 35, I want him to get 12 or 14 because that means I've done something. I've done my job. I went out there and played hard and did what I had to do.
You've got to be on all-league teams before you can say that you are going to be a great basketball player.
Wilt Chamberlain, by far, is my best basketball player. Best athlete ever.
In my day I think the toughest was Derek Harper. The old-school Derek Harper. He was tough. He had the most toughest, nastiest game ever. I hated playing against him because he would always try to rip you, and try to talk to you. People just didn't really know that about Derek Harper. I used to hate bringing the ball up against him, really.
When you play defense what happens is everybody pays attention and they start talking about how you're the stopper, you can stop this guy. All of a sudden your game gets better on the offensive end and you become that versatile guard that everybody wants.
I would never have wanted to play with Magic Johnson, I would never have wanted to play with Michael Jordan, I would never have wanted to play with Karl Malone or John Stockton in my prime. We wanted to play against the Shaqs, the Kobes.
Tim Hardaway was a guy who had his crossover and then he could shoot a jump shot and he could get to the bucket.
No one superstar can win a championship by himself. You've got to have help.
There's a lot of things that I appreciate that people can't appreciate.
Every rookie that thought they was good, I went at them to make sure they knew I was the best point guard in the league, and they had to go through me. That's just the way I was.
I want to be the black Dick Vitale.
My way is to talk to my opponent so he makes it a personal thing. He starts playing me one-on-one, and forgets about his team. Meanwhile, I'm still playing team ball and eating him up. Some guys tried talking back, but you can't get a talker when a talker's talking to you.
Guys like Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Kevin Garnett, they'll take bad criticism in a good way.
Part of being a leader means knowing who you can go after and who you should pat on the butt.
Coming from Oakland, Calif., I never thought I'd be a Hall of Famer. I wasn't thinking about basketball like that.
I'm not into the European-style clothes.
You talk about rowdy - in Oakland the players were on you. The refs were on you. The stands were on you. You had to talk back or you were a sissy; you'd get run out of the league. Afterward? Yeah, it was kind of a, uh, struggle to get out of the gym. Cops had to be everywhere. Which was lucky.
I know who can play and who can't play and I'm very straight-forward... If you can play, you can play; if you can't, you can't.
I like Draymond Green's intensity... but every time I didn't get a call I didn't cry all the time.
I'm not a practice player.
I don't miss basketball because I've already got in my mind that I did what I had to do for 17 years. I think I'm satisfied with what I did.
I own 60 retro jerseys. I've got everybody - the late Derrick Thomas, a lot of people.
When I was talking a lot of trash, a lot of the guys knew that when I started getting serious was when I started getting a little bit quieter. If I started locking up somebody, then I'd start talking even more and I'd talk more aggressive. But once I stopped, they knew I was really serious.
If he's averaging 25 points and I can contain him to 17, then I've won the battle. If he averages 12 assists and I kept him to seven, I'm winning the game.
If Seattle could put my jersey on top of the Space Needle, they would.
The thing that I regret is not having better relationships with a lot of people. Being the hard-nosed guy that I was, I think I could've come off a little bit better in my relationships with a lot of people, and I didn't.
I would go after any rookie. Any rookie with a lot of hype. I used to do it to Jason Kidd. I would go at him. I'd be like, 'Young fella, you're going to get a rude awakening in the NBA.'
I was really scared when I went to Oregon State. I wasn't sure I could play at the college level.
