NBA legend Gary Payton got into an intense scuffle with Jordan Crawford. During a Big 3 game, where Payton's Bivouac took on the enemies, Crawford continuously taunted and challenged Payton, the head coach of Bivouac. Eventually, Payton took to the court during a time-out to confront Crawford, which led to them going face-to-face and needing to be separated by both teams.
Things clearly got heated between the two, as emotions were running high in a big-pressure game. In the end, Bivouac won over the Enemies 50-46, handing them their first loss of the season, and this helped Bivouac surpass the Enemies in the standings in the Big 3 league so far.
Despite the loss, Crawford had a decent performance, putting up 20 points, 8 rebounds, and 2 assists, as he led the game in scoring. But all fans are going to talk about is this heated altercation between him and Payton.
Payton has a history of being an instigating presence, most notably, during his time in the NBA. During his legendary career, he earned the nickname of 'The Glove', mostly because of his incredible defensive ability. But it goes without saying that his defensive abilities were greatly aided by how much he was able to get under his opponents' skin.
Jordan Crawford had a solid career in the NBA, playing in the NBA for 6 seasons, representing the Hawks, Wizards, Celtics, Warriors, and Pelicans. During his career in the NBA, he averaged 12.2 points, 3.1 assists and 2.5 rebounds. Most recently, he played professional basketball for the Sichuan Blue Whales in the CBA.
Perhaps this was nothing more than two competitive figures who just got heated at the moment and wanted to confront each other for their words. It is unlikely that this heat is going to carry over with each other and cause any off-the-court confrontation between the two.
Gary Payton Has Had His Fair Share Of Skirmishes
Recently, Payton's former teammate on the Sonics, Vernon Maxwell, recalled a story of him knocking Gary Payton out during practice. In the story, he revealed that Payton actually caused another teammate, Shammond Williams, to bleed with his physicality, which caused the altercation
"Gary looked back, got the ball, and just turned around and knocked the sh*t out of Shammond. He busted. him wide open. Blood was everywhere, coming through his fingers, all over the floor."
Payton has always had a reputation for being an instigator, and a physical individual. Shaquille O'Neal recently named Payton on his Mount Rushmore of 'NBA a**holes', revealing how Payton would habitually cross the line during practice and in games.
Payton's ability to get under people's skins was one of his most important attributes. Payton could pester anyone into making a mistake, allowing him to capitalize and help his team both on the offensive and defensive end of the court. According to Payton himself, the only player whom he couldn't do that to was Jazz legend John Stockton.
Payton was an incredible trash-talker, but it cannot be forgotten just how good a player he was. During his NBA career, Payton won an NBA championship, was a Defensive Player of the Year, was a 9-time All-Star, and made 9 All-NBA and All-Defensive teams. Payton is undoubtedly one of the all-time greats of the sport.
