Not Expected To Return <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Jul 9 - Gary Payton, the Heat's backup the past two seasons, is contemplating retirement and is not expected to return. Pat Riley and Payton's agent, Aaron Goodwin, have said they have been unable to reach one another in recent weeks. -- Miami Herald </div> <div align="center"></div>If Payton retires, I guess we can assume Mo Williams in a Heat Uniform is a very serious possibility. And If Payton retires, he had a great career in the NBA and almost a guarenteed hall of famer. I really hope he goes into the coaching career next.
I think now would be the best time for him to step down. Great defender. He did have a good career Hall of Fame?
I'd say he's pretty close at least. Either way though he's had an amazing career. He was third all time in steals. He's 21 all time in points scored. He's 6th all time in assists. 29th in 3 pointers made. 16th in field goals made. He's got two gold medals. 9 time allstar. 9 time all NBA. 9 time NBA Defensive first team. Won DPOY in 1996. And now he's got a championship ring with the Heat. He'll go to the Hall of Fame. And He deserves it.
Easily a Hall of Famer. One of the best defensive PG's the game's ever seen. With the ring he won last season I think that makes him a first ballot Hall of Famer.
One of the best ally-opp throwers, just ask Kemp. One of the best PG who plays with his back to the basket. Great Career, and he should get into the hall of fame, he has done so much.
He's retiring at the right time, there is no point in going on. The Heat aren't going to age very well these next couple of seasons.
He needs to retire, even if he decided not to, if I was the Heat, I'd go after Mo Williams anyways, and just let Payton go. He's too old now, he needs to be one of those guys that actually retires, not just fades away.
For about a 4 year span in the late 90's and early 21st century Payton was the best point guard in the NBA. He did it in relative obscurity in Seattle but there was not a fiercer competitor in the game of basketball than Payton. There is no doubt that he is a Hall of Famer but his legacy was tarnished the moment that he signed with the Lakers in the summer of 2003. His last four seasons in the league were shit, but the years before that more than make up for it.
Point one: I didn't realize he was still playing. Point two: Why is he still playing? Point three: I'd still consider him a fringe hall of famer. He has the bad luck to play point guard, which is a position that I evaluate much more instinctively than statistically. Then again, he has the good luck that nobody seeks or accepts my opinions on such matters. Point four: He got into a fight with Speedy Claxton once. Speedy should've thrown down.
