Is Gary Payton the best PG of all time?

[Nowitness]

Opinions.

[HomieWeMajor]

IMO No.

[smoovegittar]

You're out of your mind if you think this.

[Angel Face]

No

[JohnFreeman]

Magic, Stockton, Thomas

[SouBeachTalents]

He's not the GOAT, but I feel he's really underrated historically

[houston]

dude ain't top ten pg of all-time let along the best

[LBJFTW]

Who honestly thinks payton was the GOAT PG? Is this a new form of trolling or something? :lol

[outbreak]

You misspelt Elfrid.

[inclinerator]

yes he is

[JimmyMcAdocious]

No, because the PG position is too deep. He would be the second best SG, 3rd best SF, best PF, and ocho best center. Stupid George Karl. Everything is his fault.

[Smook A.]

Defensively? Yes.

Overall? No. Thats Magic Johnson's title.

[Anaximandro1]

Patty Mills :pimp:

[T_L_P]

Great defender, but I was actually surprised at how mediocre his career Playoff stats are.

I was a big fan of his though. He definitely played some of the best man-to-man defense I've ever seen.

[rightsideup]

no deep position. excellent at his peak

[$LakerGold]

If Gary Payton played in today's era, he'd be suspended for 10 years.

Tier 1 PG though. He'd be one of the 2 if I had to build around 2 players.

[Nowitness]

Great defender, but I was actually surprised at how mediocre his career Playoff stats are.

I was a big fan of his though. He definitely played some of the best man-to-man defense I've ever seen.

He also has a better defensive impact that anyone not named Hakeem or Kevin.

[T_L_P]

He also has a better defensive impact that anyone not named Hakeem or Kevin.

:biggums:

[BlazerRed]

OP :biggums:

[Nowitness]

:biggums:

Sorry guy, truth has been spoken.

[Leroy Jetson]

Top 10 but no way the best.

[GP_20]

If we are talking just prime/peak? Top 3.

[Marchesk]

Oscar and Magic top two in any real list.

Frazier is there with Payton defensively.

[deja vu]

Best defensive PG arguably. He has a case for top 5 GOAT PG though.

[Bless Mathews]

My *****.

He top 5 pg overall.

Goat defender pg.

[klee]

Defensively: Yes

Creating his own offense: Arguably, yes.

Most Valuable PG of all time? Sadly, no. (IMO)

-----------------------------

I think the Glove is commonly underrated. His defensive prowess is the best we've ever seen at that position; the man could shut down an entire offensive system by freezing a hot hand or cutting off all the necessary passing lanes. It was unreal watching a point guard have as large of a defensive presence as any DPOY center. Couple that with a sharp court awareness, lengthy athletic physique, and a 24/6.5/9 with 2 steals on 3 TO in his peak, your offense ran smooth and ran through this guy. Built like a steed, he played 40 minutes a game and started in all but 6 games for the first 15 years of his career. It's hard to nitpick any part of his game because he was solid in everything he needed to do.

But sadly, a point guard's success is quite divergent from his stat line. Although he had exceptional court vision, it seemed you could never run an offense quite like Magic or Stockton with Payton. Whatever the intangibles we don't have empirical evidence for, we know a point guard's primary responsibility is to facilitate the team's offense. Objectively speaking, there are some point guards that have done that better than GP has, so it's a simple answer for me: No, Gary Payton is not the best PG of all time.

[T_L_P]

It was unreal watching a point guard have as large of a defensive presence as any DPOY center.

Cmon man. I love the Glove as much as the next fan (he was my favourite player when I started watching basketball), but this statement is flat-out hyperbole.

He could shut his man down as well as anyone, but he shouldn't even be mentioned in the same breath defensively as some of the great Cs. Those guys patrol the most important part of the floor, and because of their size and precise rotations cover everyone's asses. I can't say he had a bigger defensive presence that D. Rob, Hakeem, Duncan, Ewing etc. :confusedshrug:

[Hamtaro CP3KDKG]

On defense yes

Overall Magic, Oscar and CP were better PGs. He still top 5 w/ JKidd or Stockton

[Milbuck]

dude ain't top ten pg of all-time
:whatever:

[ImKobe]

Best defensive PG, solid on offense in his prime years but he never won in his best years + what he did for us in 2004 should put him out of any GOAT consideration and his only ring came from the 06 Heat, which was stacked with HOFs.

[Nowitness]

On defense yes

Overall Magic, Oscar and CP were better PGs. He still top 5 w/ JKidd or Stockton

CP as in Cliff Paul? Lol, dude needs to make a Conference Final before being mentioned - especially as he is now playing with an MVP candidate and DPOY candidate.

[Bird]

Defensively? Yes.

Overall? No. Thats Magic Johnson's title.

This is the beginning and end of the discussion.

Payton is clearly in the top 5-7 PG of all time. Not better than Magic or Oscar, but then Frazier, Isaiah, Kidd, Stockton and Payton can all be jumbled together in some form.

[East_Stone_Ya]

he is the best defensive PG of all time