NBA FINALS: CELTICS VS. WARRIORS

June 7, 2022

Gary Payton

Golden State Warriors

Practice Day

Q. You have game under your belt now. How did the elbow respond?

GARY PAYTON II: It's great. Responding great. A little soreness, but we expected that. That's been every day since I got back from just rehabbing, whatnot. That's normal, so...

Feeling fine, ready to go. Just get here and practice and get to it.

Q. Can you take me through guarding this team, kind of your role in the defense you're trying to play against the Celtics here.

GARY PAYTON II: My job is usually disrupt, just cause havoc, try to take guys out their rhythm, don't let guys get into the rhythm early.

As soon as I come in, just cause havoc, run around. Depends who I need to defend, try to slow them down, try to not let them get early good looks.

Q. It feels like these teams are feeling each other out, lineup-wise. Where are you at in terms of finding your roles and rotations in this series?

GARY PAYTON II: A little chess match. We got to take our time, think about what we want to do.

But we'll feel them out soon here in the next couple games I feel like. We'll get it together and we'll find our rhythm.

Q. You've seen Klay have some ups and downs this year. What is it about the way that he is and the way he plays that makes you sure he'll bounce back?

GARY PAYTON II: Yeah, he's been through more than anybody can think of. We know that mentally he'll bounce back, he'll get under it.

We have our teammates pushing him and lifting him up, telling him that he's more than a scorer for us. He does a lot of different things, causes a lot of different things.

Just continue to be himself and he'll find it when he needs to.

Q. It seemed like your pickup points were a lot further up the court in Game 2. I was wondering if that was something from the coaches or something that you kind of did, how you play?

GARY PAYTON II: Yeah, I was just excited to get back out there, pick up guys 94 feet. Just to get back out there, pick 'em up 94, wear them down, try to wear them out. It felt good just to run up and down.

Q. I saw this picture of you circulated on Twitter yesterday on your dad's lap. What was it like back in the day? Do you remember any memories of going to playoff games with your pops?

GARY PAYTON II: A little bit. I think that picture explains it all. I'm just a kid out there having fun at practice. Stuff like this, just messing around with the guys, drinking, playing basketball.

At the moment I didn't really understand what kind of moment it was at the time. But it was a big moment, I believe. That's actually my favorite picture of us actually.

Q. When did he instill your love for defense? Everyone wants to score at a young age, but I'm sure he instilled at a young age you're going to be a very good defender.

GARY PAYTON II: He didn't really instill it. It was the only way I could get the ball and make a play on the offensive end. I had to get the ball, steal it, or whatnot to go score.

I just took that and I ran with it. Anytime I wanted to go get a bucket, I had to go steal it. It made me that much more motivated on that side of the play to get a stop and go score for myself.

Q. People ask you what has your dad told you about being in the Finals, and you said you hadn't talked to him about that. Is there any particular reason for that? Lack of time?

GARY PAYTON II: No, it's just me and Gary. It's our relationship. Like I said before, there was a moment in time where he stopped talking to me about basketball. I think that's because I was doing a lot better than before.

Nowadays he really doesn't say anything. We just talk about life, family, other sports and whatnot. But he stopped talking about basketball, so I think I'm doing a pretty good job.