SAN FRANCISCO -- Gary Payton II was only 14 months old when his father made his first NBA All-Star Game. The eventual Hall of Fame point guard was a nine-time All-Star and his son, GP2, was there for most -- if not all -- of them.
"Absolutely. Pretty much every one [my dad] was in," Payton II, now a lock-down defender and highlight-reel dunker for the Warriors, said to NBC Sports Bay Area when asked if he used to attend the events with his father. "... A lot of Jam Sessions I remember, and dunk contests. It was cool."
He even found himself on the court and seen on screen during the 2009 dunk contest.
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Dwight Howard was rocking a Superman cape, a 5-foot-9 Nate Robinson was jumping over the 6-foot-10 Howard and there stood a 16-year-old Payton in Phoenix wearing cargo shorts halfway down his shins. In his right hand, he held a white Flip video camera, making sure he could always go back and watch what had to be one of the coolest nights of his life to that point. To his right watching a Howard dunk was Chris Paul and former All-Star Mo Williams. To his left was LeBron James and agent Rich Paul.
"Don't forget about Shareef," Payton said, pointing out Shaquille O'Neal's now 22-year-old son holding a sign showing he'd give Howard a 10 for his dunk. "That's Shareef O'Neal, that's my little brother."
The Warriors guard, who turned 29 last December, says he still has the video on his old Flip camcorder. But it was the contest nine years earlier that stands alone.
Though the younger Payton was born in Seattle, his father is an Oakland native who starred at Skyline High School. The Cow Palace in San Francisco hosted the All-Star Game in 1967, and it took another 33 years for it to come back to the Bay Area -- this time in Oakland. Oracle Arena played host in 2000 and Vince Carter gave Payton and everyone watching at the Warriors' old home, or at their own homes, a jaw-dropping show in an historic dunk contest.
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"I remember 2000 when it was here and Vince [Carter] went crazy, I remember that one for sure," Payton said. "That one was just amazing because Vince was in his prime and he was who he was dunking the ball. It was cool, and it was even doper for it to be here in Oakland at old-school Oracle.
"Everybody came out. It was like a little West Coast party."
Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Dominique Wilkins, Spud Webb, Jason Richardson, Howard and Robinson, Aaron Gordon and Zach LaVine and a whole lot more have put on shows in the dunk contest. To keep a long story somewhat short, there has been a lot of iconic performances in the annual event.
None compare to Carter. Vince was a one-of-one, putting fans on their feet like Steph Curry years later, just in a much different fashion.
Payton also has another pretty cool reason for it being his favorite dunk contest.
"That one, 2000. Straight up," Payton said when asked that exact question. "That probably still has the most [memories]. I remember it in like little bits and parts and walking out with Ice Cube out the tunnel and talking with him and my dad. Little things like that I remember."
Now in his second season with the Warriors and enjoying the best season of his six-year NBA career, Payton is one of Golden State's best high fliers. Many were hoping they'd see him in the dunk contest in Cleveland this year, but don't expect that to ever happen. He says he'll "leave all the tricks and stuff to the young guys with legs" and calls himself an in-game dunker, with his favorite being a reverse off an alley-oop from Kevon Looney against the Utah Jazz.
Teammate and Oakland native Juan Toscano-Anderson will represent the Warriors in the dunk contest this year, and Payton already is guaranteeing a win for the Golden State fan-favorite.
"Oh, Juan's gonna win it," Payton said. "I feel like Juan's gonna win. He's working on some dope, creative dunks. I can't wait. I'm gonna be locked in for sure."
Payton and Toscano-Anderson aren't the only Warriors who could have been candidates for the dunk contest. Add in Andrew Wiggins and Jonathan Kuminga and you have four Warriors who could have put on a show. Each one has the ability to bring home the hardware.
Like countless others, including all of Dub Nation, Payton still is wondering why the Warriors' 19-year-old rookie isn't in the contest.
"Jonathan, I don't know why Jonathan is not joining," he said of Kuminga. "I know Juan, he stepped up to the plate and he's gonna put on for the team."
That brought me to this question: What if we had a Warriors-only dunk contest of Payton, Wiggins, Kuminga and JTA? I could barely end my question before Payton said "I'm giving it to Jonathan."
Why? It's nice to be 19.
"Yeah, fresh legs! Fresh legs," Payton said. "He's springy, he's springy. He gets high enough -- he can do a lot of movements in the air.
"It's just on Jonathan if he wants to bring them out."