24-05-2025
Gary Payton explains why guarding Kyrie Irving in the '90s would've been easy work: "We're hand-checking. We can control him"
Dallas Mavericks superstar guard Kyrie Irving is one of the best guards of his generation. Many say Irving has the deepest bag in the league and is, as such, one of the most difficult players to contain in the current NBA.
However, 1996 NBA Defensive Player of the Year winner and nine-time NBA All-Defensive first-team member Gary Payton said that if Irving played during the '90s era, "Kai" would have been an easy assignment for "The Glove."
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"I could've put my hands on him," explained Payton on the "Barnie and Rab Show." "See, we're hand-checking. We can control him. All that dribble, dribble, sh**? I get it. That sh**, if I put my motherfu*** hand on you, make you go anywhere I want to and rip you, and I rip you all the time, that's gonna be it. And I'm gonna pound-hound him."
GP can control where he wants Kyrie to go
Payton is one of the best defensive players of all time and is arguably right there at the top when it comes to the best guard defenders ever. Standing 6'4", he was known as "The Glove" because of his extremely quick hands and ability to knock the ball off the offensive player and get steals. He was also an excellent lockdown defender who maximized the use of the hand-check to guard offensive players.
While it has been banned since 2004, the hand check was a tool that players in the 80s and 90s used to play defense. With the ability to hold the offensive player's back, waist, or hip, defensive players like Payton could push or hold their man, thus effectively controlling where her wants him to go. GP would certainly have the advantage if he used that trick against a much smaller Irving.
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"I would have took his little a** on the block," boasted GP. "That ain't nothing but a chicken dinner. I'm a kill him, barbeque chicken. He gonna get it. I'm just gonna be honest. I'm gonna put him in the paint, and I'm gonna go to work. You're going to either double me, or I'm a kill you every day on the thing."
Related: "She is the one…This is the golden goose" - Pat McAfee emphasizes that Caitlin is the player the WNBA has been looking for
Strickland thinks differently
Contrary to what Payton said, former Washington Wizards guard Rod Strickland — a guy whom GP played 35 times during his NBA career — said that Irving would be a problem if the Dallas Mavericks' All-Star guard played during the 1990s era.
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"He would've been a problem," Strickland said. "I mean, just look at the game. He can shoot the ball, he finished with the bucket in, he can take contact, he has a midrange, he can pass the ball, get him out in an open he's physical...I think he would've been as special as he is now. I think he's one of those guys just because of his skill level and physicality."
Payton didn't consider physicality when bragging about how he would've shut down Kyrie in the '90s. Irving does not play a physical style, but he's one who does not fear anyone and is not afraid of the challenge.
Sure, hand checks might have affected Kai's game, but they weren't as foolproof as Payton described. If it were as easy as GP said, everyone would have been barbeque chicken for him. But that was not the case.
Related: J.R. Smith reveals what makes Kyrie Irving his most gifted teammate ever: "The only player that I've ever seen that can score at every level with either hand"
