SAN FRANCISCO -- Gary Payton II on Tuesday was presented with a wonderful community award he will cherish for the rest of his life, a life destined to get appreciably better in the weeks to come.
It’s anticipated that during the Warriors-Celtics NBA Finals, which begin with Game 1 on Thursday, Payton will make his debut on the league’s biggest and brightest stage. He has missed a month with a fractured elbow but should be cleared at some point during the best-of-seven series.
Payton, 29, could earn a championship ring that would be the highlight of his 10-year odyssey from Salt Lake Community College, Oregon State, four G-League teams and four NBA teams. At the least, he’ll have an experience he won’t forget.
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A few weeks later, though, Payton will be back in the familiar space of the NBA free-agent market. This time, thanks to his valuable contributions to the Warriors, it will feel more welcoming than ever. After so many summers hoping, he’ll be the object of competitive recruiting.
“It's kind of new,” he said on Tuesday. “I've always been on the opposite side, where you’re waiting back to see what's going on. I was told that I probably have to make my own decisions. So, it takes a little bit off my shoulders. It's kind of nice.”
After being overlooked for years and waived five different times, most recently by the Warriors last October, Payton circled back to sign a minimum contract for Golden State’s final roster spot. He became such a fantastic utility player -- bringing consistent energy, playing ferocious defense on the perimeter, lurking behind taller opponents to catch lobs and dunk -- that he climbed his way up to a power seat.
“He’s found a home here on the floor with his play but also off the floor with his community work,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “It’s great to see someone who has been so diligent and resilient, to see all that work pay off.
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“And now he’s put himself in position where he’s going to be able to dictate some terms this summer for the first time in his career, in terms of his next contract. I could not be happier for him. He absolutely has earned every bit of what’s coming.”
The $1.9 million contract he signed last October was the launchpad to a career-saving season. The son of Hall of Famer Gary “The Glove” Payton is in line for a multiyear deal worth up at least three times that much.
This is the security he has been pursuing, in vain, since 2016.
“It's been a while, I want to say close to a decade,” he said. “It just became normal. I just made it normal, just continue to work and word, take the punches as they come. The storm couldn't have lasted for that long, but I spent a long time so ... it's just it hasn't hit me yet. But I'm sure it will later this summer.
“But right now, just focus on trying to get back. Continue to work. Continue to grind. Just trying to get this done.”
Payton’s play over the course of the season -- during which he received three votes for the All-Defensive second team -- revealed the kind of high character teams covet: Coachable. Affable. Reliable. Productive. Compassionate.
Which also is evident in one of his off-court missions: shedding light on dyslexia, a learning disorder that affects reading as well as the relationship between sounds, letters and words. Payton was diagnosed at age 8 and has known ever since that learning can be challenging but need not be debilitating.
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It is through his work in that regard, targeting diagnosis and assistance for dyslexic children, that Payton was named winner of the Bob Lanier Community Assist Award. Payton’s GPII Foundation will receive a $75,000 donation from the NBA and Kaiser Permanente.
How rewarding it is to have his basketball ability receive proper recognition while also addressing a personal priority that can touch so many others? More than 40 million Americans -- roughly one in seven -- are dyslexic.
“It’s dope,” Payton said. “It’s not even for me. It’s just recognizing this problem we have, trying to get this bill [requiring screening for all K-2 students] to pass and just continue to improve on screening kids at an early age, just to get ahead of it and catch it.”
Even with his left elbow still in a protective wrap, life is good for GP2. And about to get better.