Gary Payton had to sacrifice a lot when he joined the Los Angeles Lakers in 2003. It was his chance to win an NBA title, a glaring missing piece in the basketball resume of the 2nd overall pick of the 1990 Draft.
Unfortunately, “The Glove” struggled to mesh with the system of the Purple and Gold, a reason why he wasn’t exactly at ease in LA. In a rare move, the Oregon State product was allowed to play his usual game by Game 3 of the 2004 Western Conference. And while it seemed “The Glove” proved he could be efficient playing his game, he chose to downplay his performance.
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“I don’t care about that,” Payton said to reporters about the change in his game via NYT. “As long as we win basketball games, I don’t care.”
Payton was sorely unhappy in LA
Payton, who saw his numbers dip dramatically, was mainly concerned about achieving what he signed up for – winning an NBA ring. With him and Karl Malone joining forces with Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant at the time, his chances were looking good.
Although he was instantly a starter for the Lakers in the regular season in all 82 games, his playing time and production significantly diminished. In his tenure with the Lakers, he averaged only 14.6 points, 5.5 assists, 4.2 rebounds and 1.2 steals in 34.5 minutes of action.
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Those are decent numbers for any player. But considering he was averaging 18.2 points, 7.4 assists, 4.2 rebounds and 2.1 steals when he was still with the Seattle Supersonics, those were big drops.
With Payton obviously unhappy, it was another contributing factor to the tumultuous season the Lakers had. Like GP, Malone also struggled to adjust while O’Neal and Bryant tried to find a way to get along and mesh with Payton and “The Mailman.”
LA managed to get to the 2004 NBA Finals and it appeared the championship was within reach. But surprisingly, the Detroit Pistons pulled off a shocker by foiling the Lakers in five games.
Given the performance of the Lakers that season, the result was hardly surprising. The team did look good on paper, but with key players like Shaq, Kobe and Karl bitten by the injury bug, developing some chemistry among the four stars was hard to accomplish.
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It wasn’t a fit for “The Glove”
In the early part of the 2003-2004 season, Payton admitted that it appeared the Lakers would roll over the opposition. That was until the injury bug bit Malone, a development that would alter the course of the Purple and Gold in the regular season.
“When Karl Malone got hurt, we were 18-3,” Payton said. “We were rolling; they were talking about us beating the Chicago Bulls record. And then all of a sudden, we went up and down,” he added.
Payton was the only one who managed to stay healthy throughout that season. He did his best to keep the Lakers afloat, playing the entire season. But with other members of the “Fab Four” struggling with injuries, fulfilling their mission at the time was a tall order.
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“I’m the only one who played 82 games out of the big four and everybody else. And we still went to the Finals. It was just not meant to be,” the 1996 Defensive Player of the Year rued.
Payton unsurprisingly left LA after that forgetful stint, moving to the Boston Celtics in 2004. Luckily, the 9-time All-Star did get to win a championship in 2006 with the Miami Heat, ironically alongside his former Lakers teammate, Shaquille O’Neal.
Gary had quite the ride in the league, but eventually accomplished everything any NBA player would dream of. He is considered one of the most complete guards the league had ever seen, someone who could do it well on both ends of the basketball court.