Gary Payton on Michael Jordan Destroying His Perception of the NBA: “He Looked Over and Just Said Welcome to the NBA, It Ain’t Gonna Be That Easy”

Michael Jordan was one of the most ruthless players in the NBA. Considered by many as the Greatest of All-Time, MJ won 6 rings in a league that featured several dominant players and teams. ‘His Airness’ would often punish teams with his scoring and leave both fans and players star-struck.

One such player who witnessed his greatness was the Seattle Supersonics’ star point guard, Gary Payton. Although Payton would eventually go on to become a legend of the NBA, he witnessed his ‘Welcome to the NBA’ moment when he matched up against Jordan in his first-ever game and recorded zero points.

Gary Payton describes his first NBA Game against Jordan

In a recent interview with VLAD TV, Gary Payton spoke about his first game in the NBA, which was against Jordan’s Bulls.

Payton started off by describing his pre-season performance where he dropped 20 points over Jordan. He believed he had the edge over MJ but soon he realized that Jordan and the other NBA greats didn’t take the pre-season too seriously.

Thereafter, Payton came to realize the reality of the NBA. He would receive his ‘welcome to the league’ moment when he took on MJ and Bulls in his first game as a rookie.

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“First game of the season was against Michael Jordan man, in my rookie year in Seattle. I played about eight minutes, about 2 assists or whatever, and he had 35 and like 12 or something like that,” said Payton.

“And he looked over and just said, ‘Welcome to the NBA. It ain’t gonna be that easy,'” said Payton, describing Jordan’s comments towards him.

Furthermore, Payton explained that the NBA stars were also the best players during their respective college careers and that being an NBA player required hard work. This is something that Payton had to fix in himself in order to become a star in the league.

Payton and Jordan in the NBA

As Payton rightly mentioned, his first couple of years in the league were devoid of any impact. In fact, many even considered him to be a bust. But over the years, Payton would emerge as a star for the Supersonics, especially on the defensive end.

Till today, the ‘Glove’ is the only point guard to win Defensive Player of the Year in NBA history. Furthermore, Payton would be named 9 times in the NBA’s All-Defensive team and would also lead the league in steals in the 1995-96 season.

On the other hand, MJ led the Chicago Bulls to 6 titles, which involved 2 three-peats. Moreover, Jordan would also become a three-time league leader in steals and a ten-time scoring champion. Speaking of scoring, Jordan presently sits at 5th place on the All-Time Scoring list with 32,292 points.

Regardless of this, both MJ and Payton are legends of the game. They gave their respective fan bases plenty of iconic moments and are rightly included in the NBA’s 75th Anniversary Team.

READ MORE: Emotional Michael Jordan Confessed Regrets About Losing Father: “He Never Met My Fiancée. He Never Got to See My Kids Grow Up. He Died in ‘93”