Gary Payton says his goal was to stop everybody: "I don't care about being the best defender on Michael Jordan"
Every old school NBA fan witnessed how Michael Jordan dominated the entire league during his prime years with the Chicago Bulls . No player was really able to stop him from scoring and inflicting damage on his opponents, but there are those who give Seattle Supersonics lockdown defender Gary Payton some credit for making MJ work a little harder.
Unsurprisingly, others begged to differ, arguing that Jordan just ate The Glove's defense. Regardless of what people think, Payton couldn't care less. In fact, he wasn't even thinking about MJ whenever he reflected on his legendary career.
GP had told people about what his main goal was as a player and competitor in the past and MJ didn't have anything to do with it.
"I don't care about being the best defender on Michael Jordan," Payton said . "That doesn't mean anything. I was the best defender on everybody. I don't care about that. I guarded everybody. He wasn't just the focal point for me. Everybody in the NBA was the focal point for me."
Payton likes how fans view his game
Payton prided himself on being an elite scorer and defender at the same time. In the 1995-96 season, The Glove made history by becoming the first guard to ever win the NBA Defensive Player of the Year award after leading the league in steals.
It's worth noting that Payton won the award while also averaging 19.3 points per game that season. For Payton, being one of the best two-way players of his time is what he enjoys talking about more than playing against Jordan.
"I would want to be remembered as the first two-way basketball [player] to play on both ends of the floor," GP emphasized. "I really didn't care about scoring. I care about stopping the opponent, your best player. Because if I stopped them, that means I stopped their basketball team… My legacy, that started because of defense, people say that. That's right. I love it."
GP on slowing MJ down
No matter how much Payton dismisses it, his rivalry with MJ would always be brought up whenever he talked to people for obvious reasons. Many believe GP and the Sonics faced the best Bulls team in the Finals, as Chicago finished 72-10 that year.
Some even wrote the Sonics off and thought Jordan and the Bulls would steamroll their opponents en route to another NBA championship. However, Payton stepped up and did not let MJ and the Bulls win like walking in the park. Chicago only won that series in six games.
Looking back at those Finals, Gary admitted that it's really impossible to stop a player like Mike , but he definitely slowed His Airness down in some games.
"There's no way you could stop a great basketball player or scorer because he gets the basketball too much. The quantity of shots. And when a guy can score the basketball the way he can score, you're not going to stop him," GP once explained .
All told, Payton made a good point with his remarks. While he had an epic rivalry with Jordan, Payton should be remembered for being one of the best offensive and defensive players of all time and not just for his rivalry with the GOAT.
This story was originally published by Basketball Network on Dec 24, 2025, where it first appeared in the Old School section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
