Retired hoops standout Gary Payton ready for NBA return — on the sidelines

By Ryan Greene

Monday, June 7, 2010 | 2:10 a.m.

During what is the in-between time in his adult life, Gary Payton has found the ideal home in Las Vegas.

What he's between is what was a hall-of-fame-caliber playing career in the NBA and what he hopes will be an equally successful run as a professional coach in the coming years.

"I basically said that when I was going to retire, I was going to take my time — I wasn't going to jump back into basketball," he said. "Now, it's about time for me to get back to what I want to do. I want to get a good job in coaching, move to a city where I think I can help younger kids and I think that'll be my next thing to do in the next year or so."

When Payton ultimately does move on, he'll be able to say that the three years since his retirement have been nothing short of fulfilling.

Spending the brunt of that time in his Summerlin neighborhood with his wife, Monique, and their kids, he's become the everyday suburban man.

The couple goes out for drinks here and there, enjoys eating and bowling at Red Rock and has friends over often for games of pool, darts and Golden Tee.

He's done some work on the side, helping out during the 2008-09 season as a studio hoops analyst on NBAtv and TNT. Payton also hosted his own show, 'Payton's Corner,' on BetUS.com.

In a town where he could easily stand out, life away from the Strip has proven to be nice.

"I'm not a big profile guy," he said. "Basketball was what gave me a profile because of how I played. Everybody knows I live here, but I don't try to be out all of the time. You get a little bit older, you grow a little bit out of that, you don't want to be in all of that flamboyant stuff. I don't walk around with diamonds on or jewelry on anymore. I get into my 40s, that's beyond me.

"They gave it to me, now it's over, now it's time to just chill and be a father."

But Payton's nest is continuing to empty.

The second oldest of his four kids, Gary Jr., will head off to the University of Washington this fall. His daughter, Raquel, just graduated from St. John's University, and he feels he's ready to help develop the young NBA stars of today in his free time.

One area where Payton sees himself as being potentially quite valuable to younger pros is in teaching defensive principles.

Payton played the brunt of his career in a different era, even though it really wasn't that long ago.

While his 21,813 career points and 8,996 career assists — most of which were recorded as a member of the Seattle Sonics from 1990-2003 — were beyond impressive, what he was best known for was his defensive prowess, earning him the nickname "The Glove." Payton was a nine-time member of the NBA's All-Defensive team — a record he shares with only Michael Jordan — and his 2,445 career steals rank third in NBA history.

He also was known during the 1990s as one of the league's few players who could consistently lock Jordan up on the defensive end. As one of the game's loudest personalities and biggest trash-talkers, he made sure everyone knew it.

The cap to a stellar career came by sacrificing his role as a leading man to play as a reserve for the Miami Heat, Boston Celtics and the Los Angeles Lakers in search of an elusive NBA title. He tasted that success in 2006 with the Heat.

Payton played his last NBA game in 2007, and in the later years of his career, he saw defense become devalued.

"That's gone — I talk about it every day now," he said. "I hate it, because what the NBA has done has made it an offensive-minded game."

He said players noticed the changes more and more following a lockout in the late 90s, which forced NBA commissioner David Stern to take action on making the game more exciting by increasing offensive star power.

The legalization of zone defense was one of several steps that helped to pick up the offensive numbers.

"That's why he's probably the best commissioner in sports right now," Payton added. "He went and saw what it would take to get fans back, and that's what it takes."

Payton, though, said he believes the art of defense is not lost.

And after a short stint away from the game, what he accomplished during a 17-year NBA career still resonates pretty vividly with the league's younger generation of standouts.

That's where he sees himself again fitting into the fraternity.

"With me, you've got to understand, those younger guys who are in the pros now were watching me when they were 5 or 6 years old," Payton said. "They look up to me and say 'What can I get from that? What can I get out of him?' Once you get a guy like that in a point guard or any young kid like that, it's very easy to work with him. With the talent that they have, they can do it.

"That's all I want. I want to go to some place where I can have a kid who will want to listen, will want to work with it and want to get the job done."