2000-2001 in Review: In his 11th (and perhaps final) season in Seattle, Payton had what could be described as an up and down year. On the good side, his play remained at the same high caliber level it has been at since early in his career. His scoring continued over 20 points per game, his 8+ assists were amongst the NBA's leaders, and he threw in just over 4 and a half boards for good measure. He was named to the All-NBA's Third Team, and named First Team All-Defense for the 9th consecutive time, tying him with Bobby Jones and Portland's Scottie Pippen for the second most in history behind Michael Jordan. On the downside, however, Payton continued to provide serious question marks off the court. Twice during the season he was suspended for insubordination of his coach. When the suspension stuck against Minnesota in January, Payton's consecutive games played streak, second longest in the NBA, hit the road. He also missed games due to injury for the first time since his rookie season, and was troubled by a groin problem throughout the months of January and February.

Previous NBA Career: After the Sonics made Payton the second pick in the 1990 Draft following a stellar collegiate career at Oregon State, he was immediately thrown into the starting lineup. Payton did not respond well at first, struggling for his first year and a half under coach K.C. Jones' restrictive system. After Jones was fired in January of 1992, Payton took like a fish to water to new coach George Karl's fun and gun system, and he and Shawn Kemp quickly became one of the league's top young tandems. In 1992-93, Payton helped lead the Sonics to the Western Confernce Finals. The next season, he was named to the All-Star game for the first time en reute to a 63 win regular season for the Sonics. However, in the playoffs, off the court problems first manifested themselves as he and Ricky Pierce fought in the locker room during halftime of game 5 as the Nuggets pulled off the biggest upset to date in NBA history by beating the Sonics. The next season, Payton firmly established himself as one of the NBA's top guards, but the Sonics again lost in the first round. In 1995-96, he finally combined personal and team success as the Sonics made the NBA Finals while Payton was named the Defensive Player of the Year. Since then, Payton's career has essentially plautaued as one of the top two or three point guards in the NBA, while his team has struggled since the firing of Karl in 1998. In 1999-2000, Payton may have had his best season to date, adding rebounding to his repitoire, but again had off the court problems as he and Vernon Maxwell scuffled in the locker room, leading to an injury of Horace Grant.

Shooting/Scoring: Payton is more of a scorer than he is a shooter, but he has steadily improved his shooting since entering the league. He is rather streaky, which makes it hard for an offense based soley on him, but when on is deadly from almost any area on the court. For the number of 3-pointers he attempts, he doesn't make nearly enough, shooting around 35% consistently, but he is capable of having big games from downtown nevertheless. His free-throw shooting could also stand to improve, at 77%, and he sometimes struggles at the line in clutch situations. Perhaps one of Payton's most impressive strengths is his post-up ability, as he can dominate smaller guards down low. However, surprisingly, Payton got very few chances to display this last season despite the Sonics' lack of post scoring. Grade: B+

Floor Game: Payton is now equally adept at playing with or without the ball. For most of last season, with Emanual Davis joining him in the starting backcourt, Payton split time between nominally being the shooting guard and point guard. As a point guard, he is not really a distributor in the classic sense, but works the ball around well. He does not feed the post particularly well, but does a fine job of avoiding turnovers. Without the ball, Payton generally looks to spot up around the 3 point line. He probably could help more if he were slashing, but the Sonics don't want him to do this so that he may conserve energy to play the 40+ minutes per night he has played year in and year out. Grade: A-

Rebounding: For a 6-4 point guard, Payton does a fantastic job on the glass. With Patrick Ewing around, rebounding wasn't as urgent of a need for the Sonics last season, meaning that Payton's numbers came down, yet he still remained amongst the top guards in the league in this category. Because he spends most of his time beyond the arc on offense, he is a better defensive rebounder than offensive rebounder. Grade: A

Defense: As he has attempted to conserve energy offensively by playing off the ball, Payton has also in latter years not played his typical "Glove" lockdown defense for a full game. He has also deferred to allowing Davis to play the opposition's best scorer. Nevertheless, he is still a fine defender when he puts his mind to it. Quick guards who can shoot from the outside still give him trouble, but who don't they give trouble? Payton tends to roam a bit much on defense, which, though fitting with the Sonics' philosophy, meant players like Eric Pitakowski, Peja Stojakovic, and Anthony Peeler had big games against Seattle. Grade: B

Intangibles: This is the area where Gary has the most room to improve. His first suspension came after he argued against then-coach Paul Westphal's substitution patterns in a game against Dallas. Westphal told him, "You play. I'll coach." When Payton continued to argue, he was suspened the next day. A day later, however, the suspension was called off, showing the weight Payton wields in Seattle. Contrary to popular belief, it was really Vin Baker, not Payton, who was responsible for Westphal's firing (along of course with the Sonics' horrific start). His second suspension came when Payton nearly came to blows on the court with Ruben Patterson during a game against Phoenix, and then argued angrily with new coach Nate McMillan after the game. This time, the suspension stuck as McMillan demonstrated he was the boss. Payton certainly does have some positive points intangibly. He desires nothing more than to win, and his relentness play and attitude are crucial for the Sonics. His act has been toned down on the court and he did not even lead the team in technical fouls last season. Another area, however, which is a negative, is Payton's spotty play down the stretch. Grade: D

Overall: For all his problems off the court, Payton has aged extremely well on it, remaining arguably the league's best point guard, with only Jason Kidd and maybe Steve Francis in on the argument. His game has lost little with age, although he has had to change his style somewhat. Nevertheless, the Sonics have decided that Payton is no longer an untouchable player. Rumors have flown about potential Payton trades, though it now appears that he won't be traded before the end of the summer. If he does go to a winning team, as he has said is the only situation he'll accept, he could be the missing piece for that team, espeically if it is Portland. Regardless, he should be one of the league's top three point guards and a fine performer for years to come. Grade: A

December 1 Update: Is it a new Payton? Early indications are yes, at least off the court. Payton has been a model citizen off the court, eschewing tirades in favor of helping his teammates. There has been one crisis -- after a loss on November 30 to the Lakers, Payton was criticized by Coach McMillan for not following the game plan, but Payton took even this in stride. His play has generally been strong as well, as he has been amongst the league's leaders in assists and continued to shine on offense.

January 1 Update: Despite still being amongst the NBA's league leaders in minutes per game at the age of 33, Payton has seen precious few signs of slippage in his game. At the beginning of December, he did suffer an extended shooting slump, but has since rebounded to the point where he was one off his career high for points with 43 against the L.A. Clippers on the 27th. Payton's off-the-court attitude has remained strong throughout the season, and he remains fourth in the league in assists per game.

February 1 Update: There haven't been many finer months in Payton's stellar career than January 2002. While keeping the Sonics afloat in the Western Conference playoff race, Payton scored 23.9 points per game on better than 50% shooting. More surprisingly, his normally mediocre three-point shooting was at a fantastic 47% and his steals upped to 2.29 per game, about where he was during his true "Glove" heyday. He was also named to his eighth All-Star game.

March 1 Update: After the fabulous January, Payton struggled mightily with his shot in the month of February. Looking fatigued much of the time, Payton made just 44% from the field and averaged only 19 points per game. His mental focus also looked to wane near the end of close home games, as the Sonics dropped winnable games to Chicago, Dallas, the Lakers, and Portland. On the other hand, Payton's leadership and play on the road was a key part of the Sonics' fine play away from KeyArena, as he kept a young team afloat.

April 1 Update: As his teammates went down like flies during the month of March, the ageless Payton continued to show what a remarkable player he is, as the only Sonic to play in -- and start -- every game this season. As the season wears on, Payton's play has barely fallen off at all, though with lesser teammates, his assists have decreased slightly, and he had a poor month from beyond the arc.