30 players who define each NBA franchise

Honorable Mentions: Nate McMillan, Kevin Durant, Shawn Kemp

Long before Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook were putting on a show in front of frenzied support in Oklahoma City, this franchise belonged to the city of Seattle. And for all the years that the Supersonics resided in the Emerald City, nobody ever reigned supreme quite like Gary Payton.

Payton was the fundamental point guard, perfectly combining his top class basketball brain, anticipation and massive hands to be one of the most dominant floor generals in history. Payton’s greatest success may have come later in his career, but he played his best basketball in Seattle.

Known as “The Glove,” Payton tormented offenses and defenses alike with his eye for a steal and a pass. That didn’t mean that he couldn’t score, though, as Payton had an abundance of ways to beat his man and get his points. Payton is the franchise leader in all three of those categories with marks of 18,207 points, 7,384 assists and 2,107 steals overall.

He’s a hall of famer now, and I think he’s very deserving of it, but we did have our battles. – Michael Jordan

Payton was one game shy of reaching 1,000 appearances for the Sonics when he was traded away to Milwaukee in exchange for Ray Allen. The Sonics only missed the playoffs twice during the point guard’s time with the team, and even managed to push Chicago to six games in the 1996 NBA Finals.

Next: Orlando Magic