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Gary Payton II On Discussing Basketball With His Father: “We Don’t Really Talk About Defense”

Gary Payton II has been making his presence felt for the Golden State Warriors this season. He’s been putting up 13.7 points, and 2.7 steals per game in his last three games.

His defensive capability has earned him a spot with the Warriors, and as he continues to sustain some playing time, Payton II keeps looking more like his father, former Seattle Supersonics superstar Gary Payton, in terms of providing excellent defensive production for the team. 

While one may guess that the younger Payton has been getting a lot of defensive tips from his father, surprisingly, that’s just not the case at all.

According to Payton II himself, he doesn’t really share a conversation with his father when it comes to playing defense, despite the fact that his father is one of the best defensive players to ever play in the NBA.

“To be honest, we really don’t talk about defense…I wasn’t offensively gifted like he was, so I had to do it on the defensive end. I made sure I was great at defense, and it’s led to steals dunks, and that’s how I got my offense going.”

GP2 on talking defense with his dad: “To be honest, we really don’t talk about defense…I wasn’t offensively gifted like he was, so I had to do it on the defensive end. I made sure I was great at defense, and it’s led to steals dunks, and that’s how I got my offense going.”

— Mark Haynes (@markhaynesnba) November 8, 2021