Gary Payton is best known for his legendary Seattle Supersonics career, and he sees the return of the Sonics as a necessity for the Emerald City.
The Hall of Fame point guard established his legacy in the NBA as a member of the Supersonics (1990-2003), leading them to the NBA Finals in 1996 and becoming the first point guard in league history to win the Defensive Player of the Year award. Payton also went to the All-Star game nine times and led the league in assists and steals.
With the NBA approving possible expansion into Seattle and Las Vegas for the 2028-29 season, the city of Seattle could see the return of the Supersonics for the first time in two decades. Their franchise left Seattle in 2008 to become the Oklahoma City Thunder.
"Our community needs it"
"Our community needs it," Payton told Covers in an exclusive interview. "I think that we should be able to get our Sonics back, because if you look at it, we just won the Super Bowl. Baseball is doing very, very well. The Storm is doing very well; they've won a lot of championships. They gave Sue Bird a statue in front of the place. We're doing things like that in Washington.
"The Huskies, the Sounders, everybody is coming. The Kraken, our new NHL team. We're pretty good. The only thing we're missing is basketball. When that comes back, it's going to be a great thing for me to be a part of it, be up there every day and get it back going. Get our tradition back."
Payton said that he will absolutely be a part of the Supersonics franchise if it does come back. He said he's close to the ownership group looking to lead the franchise, One Roof Sports & Entertainment, back to Seattle.
"I can't do anything else," Payton said. "This is the franchise that started me. That's the franchise that started 'The Glove', the franchise that got me to become a Hall of Famer, a top-75 player. So yes, I'm going to be a part of that and get that built to where it needs to be built back up, when we were winning in the 90s and every game was sold out. When we were winning 50 or more games every year for about six, seven years straight. So yes, that's going to be a big thing for me to go in here and try to help our city get back to where it was."
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Payton: Sonics tickets will sell out in ‘about an hour’
Payton plays up how big of a sports city Seattle is, saying that the arena will sell out in "about an hour" if the franchise moves back to the city.
"You’ve got to see our city to understand what it is," Payton lights up when given a chance to speak about the city he made his name in. He continued, 'It's not just a city of rain, it's a city of love. Our team and our people there know that, and that's why we're so big and adamant about getting the Sonics back. Now we have this opportunity. Watch what's going to happen, as soon as they say, 'Yo, it's time to come and let's go.' We're probably going to sell out in about an hour.”
Payton has high expectations if, or when basketball returns to Seattle, "Everybody's going to be coming in and rolling there. It's going to be almost like Los Angeles. I think a lot of people will come in there and be a part of our thing. A lot of superstars, a lot of celebrities. I think they're going to be up there, especially if I'm involved. I'm trying to get them up there every time, every chance we can, so we can have a good time up there."
Payton: Michael Jordan would average “40 a game easily” in today’s NBA
Payton is known as widely regard as the greatest perimeter defender of all-time.
The 57-year-old Oakland, CA native was a nine-time NBA All-Defensive First Team selection for nine consecutive seasons from 1994 until 2002. Nicknamed ‘The Glove’, he famously helped the Supersonics win two NBA Finals games against the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls squad that won a then-record 72 games.
The wins came after Payton was switched onto Michael Jordan and with Seattle trailing 3-0 in the series. Payton held Jordan to just 23 points in Game 4 on 6-of-19 shooting. He held Jordan to 26 points in Game 4.
Jordan had averaged 31.0 points per game in the first three games on 46.0% from the field.
When asked what Jordan would average today, Payton said the five-time MVP would average 40 points per game "easily" if he played in the current era.
"Forty, easily," Payton said. "Nobody could guard him, not right now. There's only a couple of teams that play defense. You saw last year, the two teams who made it. Why did Indiana make it? Because they played defense. They brought their team, played defense. I think Oklahoma City plays a lot of great defense."
The Hall of Fame point guard makes it clear that while you can slow down a great scorer, there's no stopping one like Jordan.
"Y'all got to understand, nobody can stop that kind of scorer," Payton said. "All you can do is slow him down and try to make it close and make yourself have a chance of winning games. But with him, I think he would average 40. He would average 40 a game easily in this league."
Payton: Gary Payton II, Jrue Holiday best on-ball defenders in NBA
On the topic of who is the best on-ball defender in the game today, Payton goes with his son, Gary Payton II - who plays for the Golden State Warriors - and veteran Jrue Holiday, who recently helped lead the Portland Trail Blazers to a surprise playoff appearance.
Holiday is a six-time All-Defensive Team selection.
"That's very hard," Payton said initially. "I'm always gonna say my son can be the best one-on-one defender along with Jrue Holiday. I think they're two of the best basketball players that can change a game guarding anybody. I think on the ball, those two guards are the best that's on the scene right now in the NBA."
Payton: Jontay Porter “a good kid” and NBA should consider reinstatement
Payton currently serves as a consultant for the USBL's Seattle Super Hawks, which is coached by former NBA guard Robert Pack. The USBL returned to play this season after being defunct since its last season in 2008.
The most intriguing storyline for the league and the team right now is Jontay Porter, who currently plays for the Super Hawks after he was banned for life by the NBA after violating its gambling policies as a member of the Toronto Raptors.
"Unfortunately, he got in trouble, but he's a good kid," Payton explained. "He's a quiet kid, a family kid. He's around his people, his family all the time, and we just have to let people understand what was happening. He made a mistake, and that's what was going on. But as a basketball player, he has a hell of an IQ. The IQ of what I think that a big man should have, as you see with Jokic in Denver.”
Payton speaks glowingly of Porter as a person and gives major praise to the 6-foot-10 big man for his passing abilities, saying he can pass it like Denver Nuggets star Nikola Jokic. As of this writing, the Super Hawks have the best record in the USBL at 12-0. Porter leads the league with 20.0 rebounds per game and ranks second with 7.8 assists per game.
"This kid can pass a basketball, he can score the basketball, he has a good feel for the game. He can dribble the basketball. For a big man, I think his passing ability is off the charts. I think that he didn't come in here in shape, but now he's getting in shape, and now he's starting to have double-doubles and do the things when he wants to. I want the NBA to see that, but we have to first get him out of trouble first. Then we'll see what the NBA wants to do after that."
Payton: Porter must earn back his credibility
Payton - who will take over his hometown Oakland USBL franchise when it begins play in 2027 - said the best advice he has given Porter is to stay humble.
"The best advice I gave to him is that you have to listen and you have to be humble," Payton continued. "The humble thing is you got to understand that you got to get your credibility back. You got to get people to trust you again. A lot of people always say, 'Oh, these kids do this, they do that.' But you gotta earn respect and earn trust, and you gotta show people that you can do this and don't just talk about it.
Payton remains optimistic for Jontay Porter’s future, "I think he's staying out of trouble. He's doing things in the community that would help people understand that, 'Yeah, I made a mistake, and I don't want other people to make mistakes. So now I'm gonna talk about it.' I think when people get in trouble, they have to understand that, and they have to be real with it. They gotta talk about it."
