NBA icon Gary Payton was a key figure of The Last Dance during the telling of the 1996 NBA Finals. But while Michael Jordan didn’t see “The Glove” as a major obstacle to winning his fourth ring, Payton doesn’t think Jordan was his toughest opponent either.
Appearing on Vlad TV, Payton asserted that NBA legend John Stockton was a tougher opponent to guard than Jordan. He explained that it was harder to guard Stockton because he had a more diverse array of skills.
“I got to guard him 94 feet. I got to think about coming off of picks, he’s throwing passes, he’s coming back trying to steal basketballs, he’s always moving, he’s taking charges on me, he’s doing a lot of things. I have to always focus on him,” Payton said.
Payton’s Seattle SuperSonics and Stockton’s Utah Jazz went head-to-head four times in the playoffs and countless times in the regular season. He had to deal with Stockton more than Jordan.
But unlike Michael Jordan, Gary Payton at least got the better of John Stockton in two playoff trips.
After losing to the Jazz in the 1992 Western Conference Semifinals, the SuperSonics got their revenge the following year, beating the Jazz in five. Three years later, the SuperSonics beat the Jazz in the Western Conference Finals to reach the NBA Finals, where they eventually fell to Jordan and the Bulls.
However, Stockton and the Jazz evened their playoff rivalry out, beating the SuperSonics in the First Round in the final playoff meeting between the two.
Was John Stockton really a tougher player to guard than Michael Jordan?
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