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Gary Payton – champion on and of the field

by WoV
source: wikipedia.org

Gary Dwayne Payton (born July 23, 1968) is an American former professional basketball point guard. He is best known for his 13-year tenure with the Seattle SuperSonics, and holds Seattle franchise records in points, assists, and steals. He has also played with the Milwaukee Bucks, Los Angeles Lakers, Boston Celtics and Miami Heat, the last with whom he won an NBA championship. He was nicknamed "The Glove" for his excellent defensive ability.

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Post NBA career

During the 2008–09 season, Payton served as a studio analyst for NBA TV and as an occasional substitute analyst on The NBA on TNT. He was replaced with Kevin McHale for the 2009–10 season. In 2013, Payton was named an analyst for Fox Sports 1‘s Fox Sports Live.

Movie and TV appearances

Payton has appeared in White Men Can’t Jump (1992), Eddie (1996), Like Mike, and also performed a speaking role in the 1999 comedy film The Breaks. He also appeared on The Jamie Foxx Show.

Payton appeared on Onion SportsDome.

Charity and community involvement

Payton has made numerous well-regarded contributions of both time and money to the community. He set up The Gary Payton Foundation in 1996 to provide safe places for recreational activity, and to help underprivileged youth in his hometown of Oakland stay in school. He hosts an annual charity basketball game as part of his foundation. Payton and his wife, Monique, have been active in fundraising endeavors for HIV awareness, and Payton has lent many hours and provided tremendous financial support to the Boys & Girls Club of America and the Make-a-Wish Foundation. Payton has also donated Miami Heat tickets to underprivileged children. For the Christmas of 2003 he took 10 families from the Ronald McDonald house in Los Angeles and let each of the over 40 children have a $100 shopping spree at FAO Schwarz. For Christmas, 2005, he gave 60 children $100 Toys-R-Us shopping sprees as part of the Voices For Children program. In 1999 he wrote an autobiographical children’s book entitled Confidence Counts as part of the “Positively for Kids” series, illustrating the importance of confidence through events in his own life. In July 1999, Payton was named to The Sporting News‘ “Good Guys In Sports” list. Payton hosted a radio show in early 1998 on Seattle’s KUBE 93.3 station. He played hip-hop including The Roots, Raekwon, Outkast, and Cam’ron. He did it for charity during the NBA lockout.

For similar stories, click on After sport’s career.

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