Michael Jordan stayed a constant in the NBA Finals when he was playing during the 1990s. In 6 out of 8 seasons, His Airness was at the end of the road for different teams, and many stars weren’t able to win a ring in their primes thanks to him. Gary Payton was one of the stars that lost to MJ in the 90s when the GOAT and his Bulls beat the Seattle Supersonics in 1996.
Gary Payton was known for his elite defensive play, he was nicknamed ‘The Glove’ for how stifling his defense was. But when it came to playing Michael Jordan, the best defenders in history struggled to keep him down. Michael Jordan himself said that he wasn’t scared of going against Payton when the two were in the NBA Finals, and now GP has also opened up about the encounter.
(starts at 42:08 minutes)
“KG, that was a great experience. Cuz you gotta understand, 96, I won the Defensive Player of the Year and then Michael Jordan was the MVP. We put it on Sports Illustrated, ‘Mission Impossible.’ And it had me on there with it saying it was me guarding him. I got hurt, and then I couldn’t guard him in the first couple of games.
I had a torn calf. And then George wouldn’t let me guard him, and then we go down 3-0 and then he let me guard him and all of a sudden, the game changed around. His numbers dropped from 33 to 24, and I just made it hard for him to get the basketball.”
Gary Payton seems quite confident that he had what it took to slow Michael Jordan down. Injury is something that cannot be helped, but at the end of the day, results matter the most. It’s an interesting case to examine, though.
Did Gary Payton Slow Michael Jordan Down?
There is some merit to Payton’s claim, as the stats would show. For the first 3 games of that series, Michael Jordan averaged 31 points per game. He shot over 45% from the field, and he shot 50% from three-point range.
In the next 3 games, Jordan’s average fell to 23 points per game. What’s more, his field goal percentage dropped to below 38%, and his three-point percentage was an abysmal 11%. The Chicago Bulls won that series in Game 6, but while the result is what matters most, it’s safe to say that Payton did bother MJ, even if it was just a little.
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