"You was the 8th man on the bench" - Kevin Durant caught roasting ex-NBA champ courtside in Suns vs Warriors showdown

On Friday, Kevin Durant and the Phoenix Suns faced the Golden State on the road. In the third quarter, Durant got into it with Hall of Famer Gary Payton, who was in attendance to watch his son, Gary Payton II.

A courtside video of their exchange was posted on X, showing Durant taking a dig at Payton. He told the former Defensive Player of the Year that by the time he was 36, he was the eighth man off the bench.

"You up here (gestures), I'm at the ceiling," Durant said.

When Payton responded, saying that he was up on the roof, Durant fired off another scathing shot.

"By the time you was my age, you was the eighth man on the bench," Durant said.

At age 36, Payton was in his 15th season. After spending the majority of his career with the Seattle SuperSonics, he landed in Milwaukee for the remainder of the 2002-03 campaign before spending the following year with the Lakers.

In 2004-05, Payton played for the Boston Celtics. He started all 77 games he played and averaged 11.3 points, 3.2 assists and 2.9 rebounds in 33.0 minutes.

Kevin Durant and Gary Payton weigh in on banter during third quarter of Suns-Warriors game

While Kevin Durant and Gary Payton traded verbal barbs in the third quarter, the two said after the game that there was no bad blood between them.

During the matchup, Payton told ESPN's Jorge Sedano, who was seated near him, that they were simply "talking junk."

Durant spoke with members of the press during a postgame scrum in the locker room, saying that players in Payton's era are often dismissive of the modern era.

"They feel like that's the golden years of the NBA," Durant said. "So I try to let them know, especially GP, I try to let them know what it would have been like if they'd have been on the court with me. They tend to talk down on the mentality of our era's players.

"G's a great sport about it — one of my favorite players, somebody I look up to, got major respect for."

Durant added that the trash talk between them stems from the Team USA training camp leading up to the Olympics. At the time, he told the Hall of Famer that even in his heyday, he couldn't guard him because of the size discrepancy.

From the sounds of things, the two picked up right where they left off last summer.