NBA Hall of Famer Gary Payton is interviewed by Cebu sportswriters during the opening of the NBA Store Cebu at the Ayala Center Cebu (CDN PHOTO/BRIAN J. OCHOA).
EVEN AT age 48, NBA legend and Hall of Famer is still as brash as he was during his playing years.
Considered to be one of the best perimeter defenders of all time, backed by his Defensive Player of the Year award in 1996, the six-foot-four guard boldly declared that he absolutely didn’t have any problems guarding anybody during his 17-year playing career. And yes, that includes Michael Jordan, the consensus greatest player of all time.
Asked who his toughest cover was during a career that saw him play for five different teams and win a title in 2006 with the Miami Heat, Payton curtly said, “No one.”
However, he made mention of two all-time greats that he took great pleasure in competing against.
“It was a pleasure to guard John Stockton and Michael Jordan, but I didn’t have any problems against anybody,” added Payton, who was in Queen City of the South to open the first NBA Store outside of Manila, the NBA Store in Cebu.
The second pick of the 1990 draft, Payton arrived in Cebu on Wednesday morning and went to see the sights in the afternoon. Shortly after paying a visit to the city’s famous landmark, the Magellan’s Cross in downtown Cebu, Payton went to Abellana National School where he met the public school’s boys’ and girls’ basketball teams.
“I went to a high school today, and I saw all them young kids play. And that’s what we are about: to support them and help them get better at what they do,” said Payton.
“They got to go out there and work hard. They have to have that mind-set and passion to just leave it all out there on the court,” he added.
The Cebu experience got even better for the Oakland-native as he got a taste of the city’s most famous gastronomic delight — lechon.
As for basketball, Payton remarked that he already knew plenty about the state of basketball here in the country and was excited to see it up close.
“I didn’t have to learn anything. I already knew about Philippine basketball. I already knew that they were trying to build themselves up and that’s why the NBA is over here because we know that. We want to help them build it up more. Help more people get into the NBA and get them to understand how to work hard and hopefully, get them into the NBA.”