Phoenix Suns forward Kevin Durant is one of the most lethal players in the NBA with an impressive shooting ability that puts him above the rest.
On his prime, the former Texas Longhorns player was unguardable and not event greats like LeBron James could hold him down.
Durant is also no stranger to controversy and clapping back at haters, wheter in social media or in the court or the bleachers. He would argue anybody to get his point across and Friday night was the latest example of that, when the two time NBA champion went at it with a league’s legend.
Kevin Durant and Gary Payton clash at a game
Kevin Durant’s Phoenix Suns played against the Golden State Warriors at Chase Center in San Francisco, California, Friday night with the visiting team getting the win 130-105 with a good night for Durant who recorded 19 points with six rebounds and three assists.
The highlight of the night, though, had nothing to do with his numbers on the court. During the game, Gary Payton – whose son Gary Payton II plays for the Warriors – started talking trash to Durant and the Suns’ forward didn’t backed down from the action.
“You up here, I’m at the center.” Durant said, to which Payton replied that he can almost hoop to prove him that he could go at him one-on-one. “By the time you was my age (36 years old) you was the 8th man on the bench.” Durant replied, which made some fans laugh hard.
Gary Payton didn’t hold back and exchanged a couple of words with Durant but the NBA player thought it was enough and decided to walk away from the drama. Payton, the 1995-1996 defensive player of the year, was known for his fierce style of playing and his willing to lock down rivals. He earned the nickname “The Glove” because of his defensive skills and his ability to shut down opposing offensive players.
When Payton was 36 years old (Kevin Durant’s current age) he played for the Boston Celtics along good players like Antoine Walker, Paul Pierce and Tony Allen. They finished with a 45-37 record which was good enough for first place in the NBA Atlantic Division but they lost during the first round of the playoffs to the Indiana Pacers. Payton played 77 regular-season games, averaging 33 minutes with 11.3 points, 6.1 assists and 1.1 steals.
Durant says that it was just “junk” talk
Kevin Durant addressed the issue after the game and told reporters that even though it looked like things could have escalated, in all reality it was “just talking junk” as both him and Payton know each other from years and they have a good relationship.
“It’s always good when I run into an older player, especially if they played in the ’90s, because they feel like that’s the golden years of the NBA,” Durant said. “So I try to let them know, especially GP, I try to let them know what it would have been like if they’d have been on the court with me. They tend to talk down on the mentality of our era’s players.”
Durant went on to say that Gary Payton is a great sport about it and he’s also one of the Phoenix Suns forward favorite players, as the NBA player looks up to the league’s iconic figure
“I think we started in the summer with Team USA. We were all in the same room with Team USA, and the first thing I said to him was that he couldn’t guard me. ‘You’re too small. Them dudes that played back in the day wasn’t close to me.’ I was just talking crazy to him, so I guess we picked it up from there.”
Finally, Kevin Durant said that he’s pretty confident that Gary Payton would have not being able to guard him if they would have face each other on their primes, “he’d probably just try to foul me, just like his son do.” Durant stated.
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