Lakers News: Former Laker Gary Payton Calls 2003-04 Lakers First Super Team, And He Bonded With Kobe
Laker fans remember the year that the purple and gold acquired Gary Payton and Karl Malone. It felt like someone had turned on "video game trading" mode on their favorite basketball video game. Gary Payton had been a staple of the Seattle Supersonics run and gun brand of basketball. Karl Malone was a dominant, future hall of fame player who with John Stockton created perhaps the most consistent 1-2 punch in NBA history. The Lakers road to a title seemed like a foregone conclusion or a coronation. Laker fans know that did not happen, as LA lost to the Pistons in the NBA finals.
The topic of superteams is a contentious one among NBA fans. The debate over which team came first has raged for at least a few years. Some NBA fans say Lebron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh's union in Miami was the first superteam. Other fans will point to the Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen, and Paul Pierce roster as the first. Gary Payton pointed out (on Nothing Personal With David Samson) that the Lakers had a starting five that featured four hall of fame players in Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O'Neal, Karl Malone, and the glove himself, Gary Payton.
"That was an interesting year. When me and Karl [Malone] signed with the Lakers, I was coming for Shaq, and Karl was coming for me. So we were coming together. That was probably the first superteam with the four of us."
Every NBA fan knows about the tension and drama in the locker room between Shaq and Kobe, but Gary Payton downplayed it.
"When we got into the season, it was just a little bit different," Payton said. "I had heard about all of the tension between Shaq and Kobe. It wasn't really like that. It was just that you had two brothers -- the bigger brother and the little brother, and they were competitors. They wanted something out of the other one. The other one wanted something out of the other one and they were acting like brats. That's it. That's all it was. Just acting like brats."
Alluding to apparent tensions being more fueled by media and speculation is not an original storyline. It is often just the nature of the beast that is playing in the public eye. As for playing the role or a mentor to the young Kobe, Gary Payton spoke highly of Kobe Bryant.
"I'm glad I got a chance to be on the team and meet Kobe because after that we became really, really close. That kid was a kid that was really special, and he still should be here," Payton said. Probably the most interesting thoughts from Gary Payton were the ones discussing Kobe Bryant being human, something Laker fans tend to never think of when it comes to Kobe Bryant.
"Nobody knew Kobe. I got to know him as a person, as a young man. He wasn't like that, what people think. Kobe was a guy, he had feelings, he had a lot of things going, but he just was a dog. He just was a guy who was grit on the basketball court, and a dog. He just did what he had to do to win. That's it. That's all it was. And I don't have no problems with that. That's the way you have to do it," Payton said.
Gary Payton never got to win a championship in purple and gold, although he did win one in 2006 in Miami. Gary will forever be an NBA legend and a Laker forever, and a friend and mentor to Kobe Bryant
