Warriors bench sparkplug Gary Payton II got a rise out of soon-to-be two-time reigning MVP Nikola Jokic earlier this week. During a timeout in Monday’s Game 2 Warriors-Nuggets first round playoff matchup, Payton gave Jokic a little tap on the butt and the Joker didn’t like it. Steph Curry had to step in as a peacemaker for Jokic, who is listed at 6-foot-11, 285 pounds.
Payton is listed at 6-foot-3, 195 pounds but he doesn’t back down from the challenge. In fact, he blocked Jokic a few possessions before the butt tap and stole the ball from him a couple plays after it.
The Warriors fan favorite Payton joined 95.7 The Game’s “Willard & Dibs” Friday for a chat about Golden State’s 3-0 lead in the series and the butt tap incident with Jokic. You can hear the full interview above.
It took a little prying for GP2 to talk about Butt-Tap-Seen-Round-The-World.
Initially asked about the Jokic incident by host Mark Willard, Payton simply offered, “no comment.”
Then Willard followed up with another query and GP2 opened up a little bit.
“It's a part of sports. Just, like, 'You're playing well, keep going.'” Payton said. “I guess everybody don't take it like that. It is what it is."
I can’t tell if Payton is being serious or it’s gamesmanship, but either way you gotta love it.
Payton also added that his Hall of Fame dad’s infamous trash-talking ability has rubbed off on him a bit.
“It’s gotta be from dad,” Payton said. “It started there. That’s where it was introduced to me, I’m pretty sure. From there it opened up the whole floods."
Listen to Bay Area sports talk now on Audacy and shop the latest Warriors team gear
Payton is known as a defensive stopper but he showed he can impact the game in more ways Thursday and got a postgame shoutout from Draymond Green, who said, “You got to give credit to guys who show up in the playoffs. Because this is just not a normal thing around this league. You look around, and some guys that you think are guys are not guys in the playoffs.”
Payton is a guy.
To think he was on the waiver wire right before securing the Warriors’ 15th and final roster spot on opening day is wild. He came off the bench and made an immediate impact beyond his usual pestering defense, going 4-of-4 from the field and 3-of-3 from the 3-point land in the first half. He finished with 11 points, three rebounds and a steal in 14 minutes of action.
“My whole career is about being ready when my number's called,” Payton said. “Just being ready and having trust in my teammates and my teammates' trust in me."
