Gary Payton opens up on his relationship with Gary Payton II: “Don't think about being Gary Payton because there's only one Gary Payton”

Gary Payton and his son Gary Payton II have had an interesting relationship. It's tough for them to relate to each other on the court because Gary Payton will go down as one of the best players in NBA history.

That's not a knock on Gary Payton II, either. He's put together a nice career over the past few years and was a big reason why the Golden State Warriors won the NBA title in June.

Payton spoke about how he had to teach his kid not to worry about being him.

"I told my son just this recently," Payton said. "I said, 'You're named after me. That's it. I said you got to do something different. So, now they like to go by Dwayne. It goes by the middle name, so he doesn't have to be Gary. You know what I'm saying? That you know they want to put 'Young Glove' on a glove, and I think he's tired of that.

"I think he's tired of being under my shadows. So, I always tell him this and he just got his number retired in junior college at his college, and I think Morgan State is going to do the same thing. And I told him this: I said, 'Let me tell you something. Don't think about being Gary Payton, because there's only one Gary Payton, and that's me.

"I created you. You know what I'm saying?' So, now what happens is that you see that picture up there, and that's me. Get another picture on the next, on the side of me and be right inside of me. Don't never think about being Gary Payton. Just be yourself. Don't never try to think that you're gonna do the same thing I do because I don't think you're gonna do that.

"It's only one person, and that's me. So, I just named you after me. That's it. That's all that happened. Now, you just put your picture up beside of me, and then you can say, 'Man, I'm right next to my daddy. I did the same thing, and that's it.'"

Gary Payton father-son duo

Gary Payton II talked about he and his dad never talked about basketball much. It's funny because of how good they both are, but they connect in different ways.

“He and his father rarely discussed hoops and almost never the son’s play. When Gary would attend Gary II’s games, he barked advice so vehemently that his son asked him to stop coming. ‘I didn’t know how to handle it,’ Gary II says. ‘I would go back and tell my mom that I didn’t want to play anymore.’

"He made the freshman team at Spring Valley High, then JV as a sophomore, but didn’t enjoy himself. ‘I just played because my friends played,’ Gary II says. ‘I was just out there.'”

Funnily enough, Payton II has plenty of the same traits that his father did. That's simply going out and playing hard-nosed basketball every night.