Gary Payton is one of the greatest trash-talkers in NBA history but Kevin Durant got the better of him when they exchanged words during Friday’s game between the Phoenix Suns and the Golden State Warriors. A clip has gone viral that detailed what their conversation was about and Durant was roasting Payton.
Kevin Durant: “If you up here, I’m at the ceiling.”
Gary Payton: “I’m on the roof.”
Durant: “…By the time you was my age, you was the eighth man on the bench.”
That was savage and even referee Scott Foster was smiling seeing these two go at it. Durant wasn’t quite on point with his last comment, though. By the time Payton was 36, he had become a shell of the player he once was but wasn’t the eighth man on the bench.
In fact, Payton started all 77 games in 2004-05 for a Boston Celtics team that made the playoffs when he was 36. He averaged 11.3 points, 3.1 rebounds, 6.1 assists, 1.1 steals, and 0.2 blocks per game for the Celtics. Those numbers aren’t anywhere near what Payton was putting up at his best, but he was still a starter for a solid team and deserves some respect.
As for Durant, he is not only a starter at 36 but is also putting up ridiculous numbers as usual. The 14-time All-Star is averaging 27.1 points, 6.2 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 0.8 steals, and 1.4 blocks per game for the Suns in 2024-25 while shooting 52.6% from the field and 40.8% from beyond the arc. His longevity is incredible.
Durant won the trash-talking battle with Payton here and emerged victorious in the actual game too. The Suns won 130-105 and postgame, Durant spoke on that exchange with Payton.
“It’s always good when I run into an older player, especially if they played in the ’90s, because they feel like that’s the golden years of the NBA. so I try to let them know, especially GP, I try to let them know what it would have been like if they’d have been on the court with me.”
“They tend to talk down on the mentality of our era’s players. G’s a great sport about it, one of my favorite players, somebody I look up to, got major respect for. I think this started in the summer with Team USA. We were all in the same room with Team USA, and the first thing I said to him was that he couldn’t guard me.”
“‘You’re too small. Them dudes that played back in the day wasn’t close to me.’ I was just talking crazy to him, so I guess we picked it up from there.”
Durant also added that he has a lot of respect for Payton but made it clear the former Defensive Player of the Year would not have been able to guard him. Considering the height difference with one being 6’11” and the other 6’4″, it’s hard to disagree.
There aren’t too many players in NBA history who would have been able to slow down Durant. He is arguably the most complete scorer we’ve seen and will be in action next against the Portland Trail Blazers at Moda Center on Saturday at 10 PM ET.
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