Glove Love

Recently Gary Payton did an interview where he said John Stockton was the hardest person he ever had to guard. Those unfamiliar with Gary Payton, he is a NBA Defensive Player Of The Year winner. He has been on multiple NBA All-Defensive teams, and next to Scottie Pippen, he is arguably the best on-ball defender in NBA history.



Michael Jordan fans heard this and have been going nuts on the Internet. They feel no one was harder to guard than MJ. How you gonna tell somebody who they had the most difficult time guarding? If you read the entire part of that interview, Payton explains why Stockton gave him fits. Payton stated he was a huge trash talker and when he played MJ he knew how to get in his head to cause Jordan to jaw back and forth thus throwing him off his game. Payton explains that no matter what he said to John Stockton it would never seem to faze him. Payton said he did everything in his power to get under Stockton's skin but Stockton just continued to run pick & rolls with Karl Malone. Payton said Stockton frustrated him and taught him a lesson.

There's a reason he couldn't get to Stockton: because he class personified. In my opinion, he is the second best point guard in NBA behind the great Magic Johnson. Some say Isaiah Thomas but I feel he was able to hide behind his "Bad Boy Pistons" defensive nature of roughing up players on the court. They played dirty and that was a reason Stockton was the point guard chosen to play behind Magic on the 1992 USA Dream Team and not Thomas. I've digressed enough on Isaiah, back to Jordan.

Too many fans out there seem to think Jordan did and can do no wrong. I lived on the south side of Chicago the entire time of the Bulls' 6 championship wins. I watched Jordan having to take 30-plus shots to score 30 points. I watched him struggle to get his teams past the Boston Celtics and those Bad Boy Pistons in the 80's until the Bulls brought along Scottie Pippen to help him out. I agree Jordan is the best, but he is not my favorite and because of that, I can talk objectively about him. I recognized his shortcomings and recall his time on the Washington Wizards, whereas most block that period out of their minds.

I know there are a lot of people who are gonna read this and think its blasphemy but I don't look at him as a god like the majority of you Stans. You can't say your opinion now-a-days without someone bringing up MJ. I've been asked who is my favorite player of all-time and when I say Kobe some are quick to say how he isn't better than Jordan. What does that have to do with anything? I didn't say Kobe was the best ever but I do feel he is a hair behind Jordan. Like Jalen Rose has said, "if Michael is the original then Kobe is the remix baby!" But I've digressed...again.