Gary Payton was thankful that he played during a time in the NBA when social media was nonexistent.
“That was the good thing about our era because we didn’t have these phones so we could go out and party,” Payton said to Darren Rovell.
“I would put 30 shots of alcohol on the table, drink it and be sloppy drunk, and nobody would film that. Nobody is telling me the next day, ‘Hey he took 30 shots, and he was drunk, and he plays like that’. It was just the way my body was, and I could do it that way, and I used to do it a lot. I used to have fun, and it was good. You need to have a mindset where you can’t go out there, trying to be drunk, and then get up there and go.”
What Payton said makes complete sense, especially with how social media platforms are both a boon and a bane for players. Take, for instance, the Ja Morant controversy, where his actions on Instagram have landed him in hot water.
Luckily for Payton, his drinking would have pretty much landed him in trouble if he played in the modern-day NBA.
Why Was Gary Payton Called ‘The Glove’?
The former DPOY was a force for the Seattle Supersonics, and recently, he revealed why he was nicknamed ‘The Glove’. Here’s his account of the origin of what has been one of the coolest nicknames in the NBA.
“My cousin. My cousin. 1993, KG, we’re playing the Phoenix Suns in the Western Conference Finals. At that time, Kevin Johnson was a premier point guard. He was averaging 27, he had just gotten All-NBA… Chuck is Chuck, you know what I’m saying. We playing against them, he just won the MVP. So I’m killing K Johnson right now, I’m holding him to like 14, 12 points. So we go and win Game 6, and force Game 7.
“My cousin called me after the game, I had like 24, 10, or about 5. Kevin Johnson had about, 12, 6, and 4. And I’m eating him up, and the TV talking about it. And my cousin called me up like, ‘Glove, Glove, Glove.’ I’m like, ‘Man, what is this man,’ I hung up on him. He called me back like, ‘Yo, don’t hang up the phone man, it’s yo cousin Glen.’ I’m like, ‘What’s up man, why you calling me Glove?’
“He was like, ‘Me and my frat brothers sitting here and they said you got Kevin Johnson like a baseball in a glove, so tight around him he can’t even move.’ I said, that’s how my D really is, cuz I do get on people, and ever since then we ran with it. We started putting out gear… And then the NBA took off with the nickname.”
While The Glove had his moments in the NBA, he will be happy that some of his off-court shenanigans went unnoticed. Pity that the new-age NBA stars are not as fortunate as he was.
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