Gary Payton Says Heat Belong Among East’s Top Teams After Giannis Addition
Gary Payton is known as arguably the greatest perimeter defender of all time.
The Hall of Fame point guard spent his most notable years for the Seattle Supersonics (1990-2003), helping mold them into a Western Conference powerhouse while leading them to the NBA Finals during the 1995-96 season.
Payton was a nine-time All-Star and nine-time All-NBA selection who also became the first point guard to ever win Defensive Player of the Year.
It would take Payton 16 years to win his first ring, but he did it with the Miami Heat during the 2005-06 season, during his second-to-last year in the NBA.
Fast forward to today, and the new-look Heat just added Giannis Antetokounmpo, the former two-time MVP who seems poised to lead the Heat back to championship contention. While there are still remaining pieces to be filled out, such as where LeBron James signs — it could potentially be Miami — Payton considers the Heat to be a top-three team in the East.
He considers the Philadelphia 76ers to be the top threat to the New York Knicks in the Eastern Conference with the Heat right behind.
“I think they’re top three,” said Payton to R.org in a one-on-one interview of the Heat. “I think it’s Philly, Boston, and them right now, and then the East, I don’t know about New York, I don’t know how they’re going to come back, but they’re going to be in the top, all of them four teams are going to be the catalyst of the East. It’s going to be Philly, Boston, Miami, and New York, so that’s where it’s going to be.
“I think everything looks good on paper, but you already know a lot of things happen when you get hurt, and anything can happen,” Payton continued. “So, a lot of things went down this year of all the hurts and everything, but we got to see once they get on the floor. Let’s see what happens.”
Payton Doubts Westbrook Fit
The Heat are coming off a season in which they missed the playoffs for the first time since the 2018-19 season. They’re looking to return to the Eastern Conference’s elite, something that they haven’t experienced in years. While the Heat made a run to the NBA Finals during the 2022-23 season, it was a surprise, as they entered the postseason as an eighth seed.
The last time the Heat were truly an elite team was during the 2021-22 season when they clinched the East’s No. 1 seed.
There are a number of free agents linked to the Heat, including veterans such as DeMar DeRozan and Russell Westbrook. When asked if Westbrook — a former MVP who has become the modern-day king of the triple-double — would be a good fit for the Heat, Payton expressed some doubt considering Antetokounmpo is on the roster.
“I don’t know, I don’t know how that’ll work out,” said Payton of Westbrook.
“I think they need a really, really true point guard. I think they need somebody who’s going to get the ball to Giannis, who’s going to do that, and I don’t think Westbrook is one of them point guards where he’ll sit around and wait over to the side and get hit, they throw it to him, and he can hit a jump shot consistently. I don’t think that’s what Miami needs.
“I’m saying, I think they need a true point guard who can go make a play, who can create something, and then if he’s sitting over there when Giannis got the ball at top and Bam is down there, he could sit over there and knock down a jump shot on a consistent basis,” Payton continued. “I think that’s what they need.”
Payton doubles down on why Westbrook isn’t necessarily a great fit on the Heat, but he would definitely make his presence known if he landed in Miami. Despite being 37 years old, Westbrook is still playing at a high level, averaging 15.2 points, 6.7 assists, and 5.4 rebounds per game for the Sacramento Kings last season.
“Absolutely, I think that’s what Miami needs,” said Payton of Miami needing a true point guard. But in today’s NBA, point guards are basically two guards, so if you go and get a good one that can go and get it, Westbrook, if he goes down there, he still will make a presence known for Miami. Because he’s still going to penetrate, he’s still going to get to the basket, and he’s gutsy, and he’s still in shape, and he’s a basketball player that just got a lot of dog in him that he’s not going to let nothing bother him. I think that still would be a good fit for him. I would pick him up, just be happy on my team to just make something happen.”
DeRozan Would be Perfect Addition, Says Payton
DeRozan, who is regarded as the best mid-range shooter of his generation and is a six-time All-Star, is a potential addition for the Heat. He could be the role player that helps lifts the Heat from being an elite Eastern Conference team into being an elite one.
Payton can’t echo enough how much of a good fit DeRozan would be on the Heat.
“Absolutely, because what they’re going to do is, now they’re going to start doubling on Giannis, and then Giannis can dump it down to Bam (Adebayo),” said Payton.
“But what if you have one of them great shooters mid range right there on the other side? It’s not going to be too many double downs, because you can’t go off of him, and if DeMar gets that ball right there, and at their age and going in the years that they have, I think DeMar is one of them players where he can adjust to sitting there seeing the thing happen, and then all of a sudden kicking it to him, and he’s having a good game.
“Plus what you can do is that you can basically go through him almost like a KD, a Kevin Durant, when he was at Golden State,” Payton continued. “You could go through him and do the things that you have to, even when Giannis is not having a great game. And then, if they start doubling on DeMar, kick it to Giannis, and he’ll start attacking.”
Dabbling in the Cannabis Industry
While Payton is long retired from the NBA, he’s become arguably a bigger name in his post-basketball career by becoming a brand in the cannabis industry. The 57-year-old released his own strand and cannabis products years ago, first dipping his toes back in 2019. Now he’s releasing his new line of organic hemp rolling papers while teaming up with the well-known RAW brand.
Payton detailed what makes his strand unique from the others and why he’s become a big-time player in the industry. He said he first became involved in the cannabis industry due to his mother, who was dealing with cancer. They gave her cannabis gummies, and it made her feel better.
“Well, you know what makes it unique is that we spend time on it, we grow it, we grow it for a period of time, and then what people like about it is that they get a buzz, and they get a high off of it,” said Payton. “It’s one of those things where they feel good about it, and then you don’t be talking about it’s trash. I have never seen anybody say mine is trash, because I think that we spend a lot of time growing it and doing the right thing about it. That’s when people knock it off, they be like, ‘This ain’t the Gary Payton. This ain’t the one we got. “So then they’ll go back to the blue bags, and then the blue bags with my face on it and that picture is the picture that I picked and created in a basketball game. So people know what it is, and it’s just unique. Once you get a unique thing, and you get to pick your face and your brand on a package, you know you’ve done something really well.”
When asked if he envisions himself in the weed industry a decade from now, Payton said yes and that this is his biggest entrepreneurial venture.
“Yes, I would, I would say that very much,” said Payton. “Because what people say now, they say, ‘Gary, I think you’re more popular than when you were playing basketball,’ and that is really true. I think that’s coming from my cannabis business. We’re about to launch an alcohol line pretty soon, the 20, and I think that’s going to come through there, and we’re going to do a lot of more stuff through a lot of people through the cannabis business. I think yes, this cannabis has made me become somebody bigger than my basketball career in this industry.”