Seattle Basketball Is Alive and Well in the BIG3
(Ezra Shaw/BIG3/Getty Images)
Seattle SuperSonics training camp had not yet begun ahead of the lockout-shortened 1998-99 season. Alongside fellow rookie Jelani McCoy, 19-year-old Rashard Lewis walked into the gym. The duo was late for a pickup game, prompting five-time All-Star point guard Gary Payton to stop the game in its tracks and berate the rookies. It didn’t matter to Payton that one of the team trainers took a wrong turn after exiting the freeway. Lewis and McCoy were pros now, and “The Glove” was hearing no excuses.
“[He] started cussing me and Jelani out,” said Lewis, “like, ‘Y’all gotta be here on time.’ And we all just pointed to the guy that was driving us. He was like, ‘I don’t care. Y’all gotta be here on time. I’ll get my homeboys to pick y’all up.’”
By that point, Lewis, who grew up watching the Rockets, knew of Payton and his many exploits. How could he not have? Over the preceding six seasons, in addition to the five All-Star appearances, the feisty 6-foot-4 guard had won 1995-96 Defensive Player of the Year and guided his team to an average of 59.5 wins per season, plus two Western Conference Finals appearances and an NBA Finals in which the Sonics fell short to “His Airness,” four games to two. Payton had also starred in two memorable playoff series against the Rockets, while Lewis was lighting up Houston high school basketball courts. But they had never met in person until now, with Lewis quickly getting acquainted with Payton and his intensely competitive demeanor.
“That’s the first time meeting him before I got to say, ‘Hi. How you doin?’” said Lewis, with a laugh. “But it was just him, the passion he has for the game. And from that day on, I knew that every time I step in the gym I had to work hard.”
Just under 20 years later, Lewis is still wearing green and yellow and playing under the leadership of Payton. No longer a teenager looking to make a name for himself – Lewis has lived more years since his rookie NBA season than the amount of time leading up to it – he and Payton are back together again in the BIG3. Payton coached Lewis and the 3 Headed Monsters last season during the league’s inaugural campaign. This season, much to the delight of Payton and Lewis, the 3 Headed Monsters were able to add another former Sonic in Reggie Evans, who spent the previous summer playing for Killer 3’s.
Like Lewis, Evans played with Payton as a rookie. Although the veteran point guard was shipped midseason to Milwaukee in a blockbuster deal that brought Ray Allen to Seattle, Payton made a sizable impact on him, according to the undrafted Evans. “He used to get on me all the time,” recalled Evans. “He never cut me no slack.”
Lewis, a 3 Headed Monsters captain, said he would have drafted Evans in 2017 had he had a higher pick. But the 3 Headed Monsters drafted at No. 5 and Evans was gone two picks earlier. This season, Evans was named a team co-captain, allowing him to skip the draft. For Lewis, adding Evans as a co-captain was a “no-brainer” because of his unique fit for the 3-on-3 format and his relentless hustle: “He’s a rebounder, he does the dirty work, plays defense, and this is the type of league he plays well in.”
It didn’t hurt that Lewis and Evans are very close friends, dating back to their three and half seasons as teammates in Seattle. “Me and Rashard, we don’t gotta talk for six months — not saying we went that long before — but once we get together, it’s like we be together every day,” Evans told The Step Back from his courtside seat to the immediate right of Lewis as they watched an early BIG3 game at Oracle Arena (The 3 Headed Monsters were scheduled to play in the last contest of a four-game slate.). Their families are tight as well. Their sons, who are around the same age, spent time together when the BIG3 hit Houston and Chicago this summer. Their daughters and wives get along swimmingly too.
Both Lewis and Evans claim little to nothing has changed with Payton’s leadership or their respective relationships with their mentor. He’s still the same intense competitor, they contend, and age or his new role as coach (as opposed to star player) has done nothing to temper him.
“G’s still the same,” said Evans of Payton’s approach. “G’s still the same,” he repeated for emphasis, “still gon’ run his mouth, still gon’ talk his noise.”
“He’s still the same feisty Gary Payton,” added Lewis, who credited Payton’s coaching with guiding the 2017 3 Headed Monsters to the championship game despite losing Jason Williams for the year in the season opener. “Gary’s still Gary. And I think if we saw him different, then you would think he’s sick or something. It wouldn’t be Gary Payton. He’s still a loud talker, wants to win, has a lot of passion, a lot of love for the game, and nothing’s changed.”
Lewis spoke of a fun-loving guy, who enjoys joking around with those around him. Once he begins practice or shootaround, or steps into the locker room, you can forget about the light-heartedness. It is winning time for the 49-year-old. “His demeanor changes,” Lewis said of Payton. “He wants to work, he wants us to work as a team to get better, to improve, to win ball games, and he hates losing. Haaates it.”
(Ezra Shaw/BIG3/Getty Images)
Last Friday in Oakland, the 3 Headed Monsters were trailing Evans’ former team early in the second half. Down 36-33 — games are to 50, win by two — their star, reigning BIG3 MVP Rashard Lewis, attempted to drive to the basket but fell hard to the floor. Days later, while watching Houston Astros batting practice, Lewis would reveal that he would be out for the season with a damaged Achilles. Emblematic of Payton’s contempt for losing, he instantly put aside concerns for his leading scorer and friend and proceeded to coach his socks off, manning the sidelines like it was the NBA Finals as opposed to a BIG3 regular-season affair. He injected little-used Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf into the lineup, strategically called timeouts, diagrammed plays, and more broadly did not shut up. Ever. Payton and the 3 Headed Monsters were rewarded with a game-winning Abdul-Rauf 3.
Then Chris Jackson, before he converted to Islam and changed his name, Adbul-Rauf was selected one pick behind Payton at No. 3 in the 1990 draft lottery. Nearly three decades later, Payton knew what he could do and trusted him. The only reason Abdul-Rauf hadn’t played more during the first two weeks, according to Payton, was that the two preceding opponents would have matched up the 49-year-old (just seven and a half months younger than Payton) guard with a much taller player. In fact, Abdul-Rauf excelled in place of the injured Jason Williams throughout the previous season, belying his advanced basketball age. This time, in a neck-and-neck game, thrust into action after Lewis’ injury, Abdul-Rauf was required to guard the 6-foot-8 Stephen Jackson. A Jackson bucket could have sealed the game. Despite the seven-inch difference, Abdul-Rauf held his ground defensively and secured a critical stop before hitting the game-winning trey.
In the post-game press conference, Abdul-Rauf humbly credited Evans’ effective dirty work for putting the 3 Headed Monsters in position to complete the comeback and start the season a perfect 3-0: “This dude right here,” he said, gesturing to Evans, who’s seated next to him at the table. “We didn’t have this last year. The picks that he set, the deflections, the rebounds, I mean we wouldn’t have had those open looks without the hustle plays.”
With that, Oakland legend Gary Payton’s team improved to 3-0 in his return home. Over the years, he has taken an active interest in helping the community grow through various philanthropic efforts. In addition, come September, he will have the honor of introducing fellow Oakland point guard Jason Kidd as a Hall of Famer.
Payton’s second home, Seattle, rarely leaves his mind either. A tad over 10 years ago, on July 2, 2008, the city lost its beloved Sonics and its fans have been reeling ever since. Seattle was where Lewis “grew into a man,” he told reporters when Key Arena hosted the first round of the BIG3 playoffs last August. It was where Evans began to convince the league he could sustain a long NBA career despite not being drafted out of the University of Iowa. It was where Payton earned his Hall of Fame credentials for twelve-plus seasons.
“It’s depressing knowing that the city doesn’t have a team,” said Evans Friday. “It hurts me because Seattle’s still a got a part of me still there. I think the city has suffered long enough.”
In May, Payton estimated that the city would get an NBA team back in three to four years. In December, the Seattle City Council approved Key Arena for a much-needed renovation, spurring optimism of NBA and NHL expansion teams coming to Seattle in the near future. More specifically, there is reason to believe that Seattle and Mexico City may be the two locations atop the NBA’s list for expansion. Commissioner Adam Silver has shown no indication that the league is ready to expand yet, but a source with knowledge of the league’s long-term thinking told Seattle sports columnist Art Thiel that the league could expand following the expiration of the current TV rights deal after the 2024-25 season.
So, a lot is clearly up in the air. For now, however, having a BIG3 team that dons Sonics colors and boasts the trio of Payton, Lewis, and Evans will have to do. Last year’s visit to Seattle went a long way, according to Lewis: “That was really big for not only me, for Gary, but for the fans that haven’t had [NBA] basketball in Key Arena in a long time. I think it kind of gave them a taste of them wanting to get their team back. And I’m behind them 100 percent. I think they deserve a team. They’re some of the best fans in the NBA. Not only in the NBA, but in sports period. They supported us even the years we didn’t play well, didn’t make the playoffs. They still supported, and that’s what a team needs.”
Evans, too, reflected on last summer’s visit with a wide, nostalgic smile. He ticked off various special moments from the trip, like looking up at his family during pre-game preparation, riding through downtown and even more simply the act of arriving to the airport he used to know so well.
Back in Seattle, decades ago, Lewis transformed from a gifted but cocky teenager into a hard-working NBA star. While he credited many influential figures for guiding his path, including coaches Dwane Casey and Nate McMillan and teammate Ray Allen, Payton continues to motivate Lewis if he ever grows a tiny bit distracted.
According to Lewis, “He lights a fire under us when we’re not playing well. He will let you know. He’s not gonna bite his tongue. He’s not gonna hold back. If you don’t go out and play, Gary’s gonna let you know.” During the previous week’s game in Chicago as the 3 Headed Monsters trailed early and Lewis was struggling, Payton looked directly at Lewis and implored him to focus. “Come on,” he told him, “You gotta get involved in the game.”
Having had long, successful NBA careers, one might think Lewis or Evans would bristle at such a reprimand, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. “I can talk to [Evans] and Rashard any kind of way I want to, and they respond,” said Payton.
“They were my rookies, so they know how I am. I’m fiery,” added Payton. “I’m gonna be a coach the same way. I’m not screaming at you for no reason. If I didn’t scream at you and I sit you on the bench, then I don’t like you. But when I’m screaming at you, you understand that I’m just trying to get you better, and that’s all it is.”
Approaching 20 years after Lewis met Payton and his loud mouth, it’s comforting to Lewis how little has changed. Payton is incapable of letting complacency slide. He must always draw the best out of Lewis, and the 38-year-old NBA veteran will have it no other way.
Originally published by FanSided.com