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"Even though he doesn't have the rings those guys have, the level of play is right up there with the great players-Magic and Bird and Jordan." Coach Nate McMillan on Gary Payton. Only a few select basketball players earn nicknames based on the way they play defense. Gary Payton of the Milwaukee Bucks did. He goes by "the Glove." "I think if you can hold a man one-on-one and stop him, and make him pass the ball, and make it difficult for him to score, that's where defensive players stand out," Payton said. Payton has done all of that through 14 NBA seasons. Combining relentless physical pressure with quick hands, fast feet and an in-your-face style made him a member of the NBA All-Defensive First Team nine consecutive years from 1993-94 to 2001-02.

Defense is not the only area in which Celtics Gary Payton stands out. His other area of prominence has been his "trash-talking." He is willing to say just about anything on the court to rattle an opposing point guard. The reason it works, however, is because it's accompanied by considerable talent and desire.
Belief in himself has never been a problem for Payton, the author of a book entitled "Confidence Counts." He grew up in a rough Oakland, California neighborhood, played on the same high school team with NBA-bound Greg Foster and went north for an All-America career at Oregon State. It's a rare college star who arrives in the NBA with a defensive reputation like Payton's, but he proved it was warranted after being drafted second overall by Seattle in 1990.

Payton was not your typical rookie. Instead of being pushed around, he did the pushing. He started all 82 games in his first season, earning All-Rookie Second Team honors, and it soon became clear he was the Sonics' backbone. His breakout season came in 1993-94, when he earned the first of his nine All-Star trips and became an All-Defensive First Team regular. As Payton grew, so did the Sonics. He won the Defensive Player of the Year Award and led the team to the NBA Finals in 1996. He also won his first of two Olympic gold medals that year. Payton returned to the Finals in 2004 for the Lakers.