LeBron James and the Lakers got the Game 1 win over the Warriors on Tuesday, but GP2 had a playoff moment that he’ll likely never forget.
With about four minutes left in the third quarter, Moses Moody skied high for a one-handed rebound and passed it to a dashing Klay Thompson, who dished it to Payton behind his back. LeBron was in a blender in a 2-on-1 and went up for a block, but Payton threw down a two-handed slam.
Payton joined 95.7 The Game’s “Willard & Dibs” on Wednesday to preview Game 2 and look back on Game 1, including his dunk on LeBron.
“It’s two points,” Payton told hosts Mark Willard and Dan Dibley. “But it wasn’t your normal body-to-body. We just had to meet at the high point. Every now and then someone gets that victory. I just got one yesterday. If you wanna say that, you can.”
When GP2 is scratching his head, it’s usually for good reason. It’s been his low-key personal dunk celebration with the Warriors, as he memorably busted it out on Indiana Pacers big man Gog Bitadze last year, who eventually got ejected.
But it’s a different feeling when you throw one down on one of the all-time greats.
“Just to have that lil one,” Payton said of his dunk on James. “It’s nice to go back on it, when you’ve been up with the best.”
While GP2 and Warriors fans were hyped in the moment, his Hall of Fame dad didn’t look impressed, as the Lakers still led by 6 points and would go onto win 117-112.
“He’s just mad because we were losing and we couldn’t play the way we can play,” Payton said. “He’s really a coach deep down. He just wants the best for us.”
