Some people in the world of sport can be somewhat controversial, but they are still very successful.
Payton or as some like to call him “The Glove” has an estimated net worth of 130 million dollars.
Mostly he gained his fortune through basketball since he played in the NBA – he played in Milwaukee Bucks, Miami Heat, Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers.
He has 13-year ownership with the Seattle SuperSonics.
Payton is seen as one of the most honored basketball players in the history of Oregon State University.
Early Years
Gary’s parents are Al and Annie Payton, and he was born in Oakland, California – this was the place that has special importance for Peyton. This is the place where he comes back often.
Peyton played high school basketball at Skyline High School, and his playmate was former NBA player Greg Foster.
Later he enrolled in Oregon State University in Corvallis where his grades became bad – he was even named academically inappropriate.
His Father Al said to him that he had to fix his grades if he wants to play basketball.
He did it, and during a four-year career at OSU, Peyton became one of the most honored basketball players in OSU history.
In 1990, he was on the cover of Sports Illustrated magazine as the nation’s best college basketball player.
He was a three-time All-Pac-10 selection and a consensus All-American in 1990. Also, Peyton in 1987 was both the Pac-10 Defensive Player of the Year and conference Freshman of the Year.
When he graduated, it was said that he took the school record for three-point field goals, assists, field goals, and steals – all of which he still holds today except for career three-point field goals.
Career Development
In the 1990 NBA draft, he was the second overall pick by the Seattle SuperSonics and has spent his first 12 and a half seasons with the Sonics.
He had problems in first two seasons in the lead, but he proved that he is one of the league’s top point guards.
This was the time in the 90s when he and Shawn Kemp formed the “Sonic Boom” – one of the most exciting basketball tandems of all time.
He gained his first of 9 consecutive All-NBA team selections when he was chosen to the All-NBA Third team in 1994; also in 1998, 2000, All-NBA Second Team in 1995, 1996, 1997, 1999, and also 2002, and All-NBA Third Team in 1994 and 2001.
In 1996 one very interesting year for the team, because they have reached the NBA Finals after winning a franchise record 64 games.
His team lost in six games to Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls.
Peyton was the member of the gold medal-winning 1996 and 2000 U.S. Men’s Olympic Basketball Teams.
While with SuperSonics Peyton had problems with Howard Schultz, who bought the team in 2001.
This brawl lead to something worse – Payton did not tend the first day of training camp, and Schultz decided to trade him.
So, Payton was traded to the Milwaukee Bucks – not just him, but also Desmond Mason.
They were exchanged for Ray Allen, Kevin Ollie, and Ronald Murray.
He played 28 games with the Milwaukee Bucks, averaging 19.6 points and 7.4 assists per game.
Then he became an unrestricted free agent along Karl Malone, and he signed Los Angeles Lakers to win their first NBA Championship.
He has started in all 82 games and averaged 14.6 points with 5.5 assists, but the fact was that Peyton struggled with Lakers triangle offence – this was the limitation to him.
He has provided offence in games where there was no Shaquille O’Neal or Kobe Bryant.
Lakers won 56 matches and the Pacific Division, and Payton averaged just 7.8 points per game but scored 15 points in games.
The Lakers end the NBA Finals before falling to the Detroit Pistons in 5 games.
Before season 2004/05 started, Lakers traded Payton and Rick Fox to the Boston Celtics for centre Chris Mihm, Jumaine Jones and Chucky Atkins.
Peyton was miserable because of this decision – he reported to Boston and was the part of the Celtics’ starting point guard in that season.
In 2005 he was traded to the Atlanta Hawks in a deal that brought former Celtic Antoine Walker back to Boston.
He has started all 77 games he played for Boston and averaged 11.3 points per game.
In September of that year, Payton has signed a one-year 1.1 million dollar deal with Miami, reuniting with Walker and teammate Shaquille O’Neal.
He averaged 7.7 points and started 25 of 81 games.
In one game where his team played with New Jersey Nets, he scored a critical three-pointer with 56 seconds left in the game.
In 2006, Payton was 38 years old, and he successfully re-signed the deal with the Miami Heat on a one-year – a contract worth 1.2 million dollars.
After he finished his NBA career, Payton worked as a studio analyst for NBA TV and as a special substitute analyst on The NBA on TNT.
In 2013, he was named an analyst for Fox Sports 1’s Fox Sports Live and in 2016 for NFL season, Payton presented weekly pulls for Sports Betting Dime.
Gary had appearances in movies like “White Men Can’t Jump” (1992), “Eddie” (1996), “Like Mike” (2002), “The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part” (2019) – all of them are memorable.
He performed in the 1999 comedy flick “The Breaks”. Payton performed on “The Jamie Foxx Show”.
He has shown his humanitarian side – he is working on leading the NBA back to Seattle, and he said that when the NBA comes back to Seattle, he wants to be part of the club.
In the documentary Sonicsgate (this was a documentary movie that was released in 2009, and it spoke about the history of the Seattle SuperSonics) Payton is featured; this movie covers the team’s relocation from Seattle to Oklahoma City.
This movie won “Webby Award for Best Sports Film”, and on this occasion, he gave the acceptance speech – he said only one sentence “Bring back our Seattle SuperSonics.”
He was considered as one of the best defensive opponents of famous Michael Jordan, and in the media, there is a lot of attention to this rivalry that, by many culminated in the 1996 NBA Finals.
These two basketball players were the only two guards to have won the NBA Defensive Player of the Year award since 1988. You should take this in perspective that they had different positions – one was shooting the guard, and other was a point guard.
Personal Life
As far as his married life goes, Payton married Monique James on July 26, 1997, but this is the marriage that ended up with divorce.
This two share three kids Gary II (he plays for Washington Wizards), Julian, and Raquel.
Payton has one more child, a son that he has with another woman -he is called Gary Payton Jr.
Gary has a brother, named Brandon, who played in New Zealand for the Manawatu Jets for some time.
Payton is ambidextrous- this means that he uses both hands – he shoots with his right hand and writes with his left hand. Gary Payton II.
He never forgot about humanitarian work.
Payton has given various well-regarded donations of both time and money to the community, and for this purpose, he has founded “The Gary Payton Foundation” in 1996. The idea behind this project is that he wanted to provide safe places for recreational exercise, and he also wanted to support all underprivileged children in Oakland.
Even more, Payton hosts an annual charity sports game.
In 2001, he donated 100,000 dollars to renovate EOYDC’s gym.
He and Monique, his wife, are fundraising for HIV awareness, and Payton has lent many hours and given huge financial support to the Boys & Girls Club of America and the Make-a-Wish Foundation.
Often for holidays, Payton gives low-income families donations, or he buys them toys.
But he was also involved in some legal problems – for a physical assault on a woman. He has been accused of battering a woman, and she has sued him, claiming that Payton touched her inappropriately.
He has denied everything -he said that the woman has been framing him to get money for him.
He has such personality that is interesting to look at – he is known for his “trash-talk” while playing – because of this, he has to receive the third-most technical fouls of all time.
Because of many things combined, he was seen as a difficult, volatile, and somewhat egotistical person that is very hard to deal with; and this is interesting to see since he stated that on the basketball court there are no friends, it is all business.
Payton has earned a bad name for trash talk and violent nature and has faced many suspension and fines in his 17-year-old NBA career.
But the fact is that this was true in the beginning and that later on, he became much calmer.
Many of his team players described him as the team leader in the psychosocial sense; he was the team’s strength and motivation.
He has said in one interview that he behave in that way in the court because he needs to get their mind off the game and turn their attention on him.
Payton believes in “mental toughness” and that it is equally important just as the court play. Payton said that his rational firmness was developed in Oakland where he learned that he could be friends with teammates before and after the game, but in the game, it is all business.
Many people say that his success is possible because Payton has the best work ethic and capability to play through an injury. This can be seen in this – Payton missed only 25 games during his long career.
He even in one moment hold a record as the player who had the longest current streak for following games played, with over 300.
It was said that durability was one of Payton’s strong traits – he had missed out only two games in 10 seasons.
Despite pain and injuries, Payton is famous for constant motion and incredible action.
He was also known as the player who gained acceptance as a clutch performer, scoring several critical shots during the Miami Heat’s 2006 championship run.
Earnings
Gary Payton, known as “The Glove”, is a retired professional NBA player that used to play and own the Seattle SuperSonics, but he gained his wealth when he played for Boston Celtics, Los Angeles Lakers and Miami Heat.
His nickname was a reference to his defensive skills.
He has been described as a complete guard as there ever was and the one that is the best ever.”
This was the player who, when starting his NBA career was the part of something new – he was part of the original formation of players who were unafraid to speak their minds and were showy in some way.
He wrote an autobiographical children’s book that was called “Positively for Kids” – this book showed the importance of confidence through experiences in his own life.
He is considered one of the wealthiest NBA players in history, and his Net Worth is approximately $130 million.
Quick Summary
Full name: Gary Dwayne Payton
Date of birth: July 23, 1968
Birthplace: Oakland, California
Age: 51 years
Profession: a basketball player
Height: 1.93 m
Weight: 180 lbs (82 kg)
Net Worth: 130 million dollars