Gary Payton insists it is all love between him and Kevin Durant.
Gary Payton has finally spoken about the viral exchange between him and Kevin Durant during the game between the Golden State Warriors and Phoenix Suns on Jan. 31. Durant had ruthlessly talked trash to Payton on the night, but the latter made it clear during an interview with Complex that they have a lot of love for each other.
“Everybody done seen that little thing,” Payton said. “Kevin, y’all got to understand. Kevin is like my young guy, and we joke around like that. People don’t know I got Kevin to go with my agent from when he came out of Texas. Him and LeBron, I’ve been knowing them kids since they were young, 16, 17 years old.
“When we went at it up in there, people were thinking we’re going at it, but I mess with him like that,” Payton continued. “I went at him, and I was like, ‘Man, I’ll do you, I’ll beat you. You’re no good, you can’t even play. You can’t even play defense. All you can do is score. He’s one of my guys that I love, and he’s the OG now. He stays in the game like that, and that’s great for him.”
Durant had hilariously told Payton he was coming off the bench when he was his age, and that got a laugh out of everyone, even referee Scott Foster. While that was a savage comment, it wasn’t actually accurate.
Payton was still a starter in the NBA when he was 36, like Durant is now, but he had become a shell of his former self. He was no longer the elite two-way guard that he had been at his peak. While that comment by Durant would have gotten under the skin of some players, Payton doesn’t fall into that category. He is one of the greatest trash-talkers in NBA history, and he enjoyed that exchange.
Kevin Durant Spoke About Talking Trash To Gary Payton
While it has taken Payton this long to address that exchange, Durant did it right after the game. He explained that he loves to let former players know what would happen if they played against him.
“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. 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. G’s a great sport about it, one of my favorite players, somebody I look up to, got major respect for. I think this 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.”
“And I love that I can have that rapport with the older generation of players and let them know that I’m like little bro to them you know I always looked up to them my whole life so yeah I’m gonna talk a little s*** to them you know so that was fun I got major respect for GP.”
It’s all love from Durant as well, but he wants all the old heads to know they would not have been able to guard him. It’s hard to disagree, as no one is really capable of stopping the Suns’ superstar.