The Warriors might have moved to The City, but the team still has some deeply-rooted connections with The Town.
While East Oakland native Juan Toscano-Anderson became a fan favorite last year, Gary Payton II is assuming that role this season for Golden State. Payton’s father, Gary, balled out at Skyline High School in Oakland before heading up to Oregon State University and carving out a Hall of Fame career.
Now GPII is making the leap to becoming an NBA regular, five years after graduating from OSU. The fact he’s doing it in San Francisco, just across the bridge from Oakland, is an indescribable feeling for Payton.
“It’s hard to put that into words,” Payton said Sunday. “More than anything, I wish my grandfather, Pops [Al Payton] and AP [Annie Payton], my grandmother, was here for this moment. Rest in peace to both of them. I know they’re watching from above. But to just see everyone come in on a nightly basis, my uncles, of course my dad … [Bay Area rapper E-40] Earl [Stevens] sitting courtside, he’s always been supporting me from the jump.
“I can’t give you a word for it. It touches right here [my heart] every time I step out on the court.”
Payton grew up in Seattle and only has 19 games in a Warriors jersey, but there’s already an undoubted connection between he and Dub Nation.
Payton continued his ascent within the organization as he recorded a game-high +27 in just 20 minutes in Sunday’s 120-107 win against the Houston Rockets. The explosive backup point guard scored 10 points (5-of-6 shooting) with three rebounds, three assists and four steals. He also threw down this one-handed lob:
“He’s just doing it nightly,” coach Steve Kerr said Sunday. “Great weapon to have off the bench.”
Payton is known as a stopper but he’s also currently toting the team’s top offensive rating (122.4), according to NBA.com. Coupled with his defensive rating (87.9), Payton has the highest net rating (34.6) in the league for any player averaging double-digit minutes this season. There's a reason why Payton forced himself into Kerr's rotation this season.
Payton is all about the intangible aspects of a steal or block that make it a special play. You demoralize the opposition, energize yours and ideally get a quick bucket on the other end.
“One stop gets everybody going,” Payton said, “gets everybody locked in, gets everybody excited to go down, get a bucket, come back and let’s go out and get another one, lets go out and get a run. It just trickles down from the top to the bottom.”
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Payton’s dad was in attendance Sunday night. GPII said the two of them don’t talk about defense and never really have, but he learned a lot simply by watching.
“Just down the line somewhere it just clicked,” Payton said. “I knew that when I was young, I wasn’t offensively gifted like he was. I had to do it on the defensive end and make sure I was great at defense. It led to steals, dunks and that’s how I got my offense going.”
Payton will likely spend much of his Monday evening hounding Atlanta Hawks sharpshooter Trae Young, a challenge he welcomes.
“I know who’s coming in here,” Payton said.
