Payton’s NBA Finals Journey
Gary Payton knows all about what it takes for a team to win the NBA Finals.
The Hall of Fame point guard known as “The Glove” lost two NBA Finals series before winning his first and only championship. Payton led the 1995-96 Seattle Supersonics to the NBA Finals as the Defensive Player of the Year, but came up short against the 72-win Chicago Bulls as they lost in six games.
Payton would form a big four core with the likes of Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal in their primes along with future Hall of Fame big man Karl Malone as a member of the Los Angeles Lakers. Despite being heavily favored, the Lakers lost in five games to the Detroit Pistons in the 2004 NBA Finals.
The nine-time All-Star would eventually win the big one as a member of the Miami Heat during the 2006 NBA Finals, teaming up with O’Neal and Dwyane Wade to deliver the franchise’s first championship.
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Why Payton Is Not Sold on Giannis to Miami
Fast forward 20 years later and the Heat are looking for their first championship since 2013. After missing the playoffs for the first time since the 2018-19 season, the Heat are rumored as a possible trade destination for disgruntled Milwaukee Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo.
However, Payton doesn’t believe Antetokounmpo automatically makes the Heat a contender.
“Well, you know what they need — they’re one player away,” said Payton in a one-on-one interview. “I don’t know if Gianis is the one, because he’s always downhill, and I don’t know how that’s going to work. I really think you need a basketball player who can really compliment everything that you do around your team.
“I wouldn’t want to lose what they have with the guys that they got,” Payton continued. “They’re gonna have to give either Bam (Adebayo) up, and then one of the other shooters, they would have to give one of them up. They have to give somebody up. So then you’re going to build around one person. I don’t know how that’ll work,”
The Heat have a nucleus of proven veteran players. Bam Adebayo has helped lead Miami to two NBA Finals appearances and is a three-time All-Star big man. Meanwhile, the Heat have Tyler Herro — a 2025 All-Star and Sixth Man of the Year winner — former All-Star and NBA champion Andrew Wiggins along with Norman Powell, who will be a free agent after clinching his first All-Star bid.
However, that core wasn’t enough to get them into the playoffs. Prior to Powell’s arrival this past season, Miami was swept out of the first round last year with that trio leading the way.
The Cost of a Superstar Trade
It’s clear that the Heat have to do something different in order to have a chance of emerging as championship contenders again. Payton believes Wiggins will be gone no matter what trade they make, but once reiterates that it has to be the right pieces around whichever superstar they acquire.
Wiggins holds a $30 million player option for the upcoming season.
“With Pat Riley, I know he’s got something in his mind looking up for it,” said Payton. “Wiggins is going to have to be involved with that. But I think if you go out and get a big time superstar, you have to be ready to understand that you gotta put the right players around him. You’re going to lose a lot of good basketball players and a lot of picks, and somebody else is going to have to become involved in the trade. There’s going to have to be a third team to be in the trade to get players that everybody wants and the picks that they want.”
Pat Riley’s Championship Push
Pat Riley — who has led the Heat franchise since his arrival in 1995 — obviously wants to win another to add to his resume. The 81-year-old has won eight overall titles when combining his playing, coaching and executive career. Payton spent the final two seasons of his career playing for Riley and knows how bad he wants it.
“Miami is going to give away a lot, but what are you going to do? Who are you going to put around him? And I don’t know what that’s going to be, but I think Pat Riley got it in,” said Payton. “He knows what he needs. He knows he needs to get out of that 10th spot and play-in. All the time, all the years, they’ve been doing really well at that 10th and the play in and got to the finals twice. But I don’t think he wants to be in that situation anymore. I think he wants to be a true contender.”
Why Fit Matters More Than Star Power
Payton makes it clear that he’s not knocking Antetokounmpo. But he’s making it clear that they need to surround him with the right pieces in Miami considering they would be trading what will likely be two-big time players.
Antetokounmpo has spent the past few years struggling to lead the Bucks deep into the playoffs in an Eastern Conference that has grown stronger. Milwaukee hasn’t advanced past the semifinals since winning the championship in 2021.
“You’re gonna have to give up Herro, you’re gonna have to give up Bam, you’re gonna have to give up somebody,” said Payton. Wiggins is on there too. You gotta understand you gotta give up some of these players or you got to give up one or two of them. That’s what I’m saying.
“I don’t think it’s a sure thing if they get Giannis,” Payton continued. “I don’t really think that. I don’t really think that’s going to be a sure championship. I think they’ll get better, but I don’t think they’ll be. It depends on who’ll be around them.”
Spoelstra, Riley and Heat Culture
Payton said that Antetokounmpo needs a “firm” head coach and that Erik Spoelstra — who has been the Heat head coach since 2008 — is exactly that guy. Spoelstra is one of the most respected head coaches in the league and has won two championships.
“Giannis, I think he’s very loyal, but you gotta understand, Doc Rivers just resigned,” said Payton. “You don’t know what’s going to happen. You don’t know what kind of different coach comes in. Giannis has to be with a coach that’s going to be real firm and with him, and with my guy Spoelstra down there, I think Spo is going to be one of them and Pat Riley is going to be one of them. You’re not going to be able to do whatever you want to do in that organization.”
The franchise has lived and died by the “Heat Culture” way implemented by Riley many years ago. Payton said if Antetokounmpo wants to make it work in Miami — assuming he’s traded there — he’s going to have to change his attitude.
“You see what happened with Jimmy Butler, it wasn’t the right fit, and he had to go,” said Payton. “We had to get away. I don’t know what Giannis is going to do, but he’s going to have to come in here with a different attitude and a different way to go. I really think that it has to be the right fit and it has to be where it’s going to have to be right. I just say it’s got to be right, because that organization here, I played for two years there. We won a championship there. And I know Spo, I know Pat Riley, very, very well. I don’t think that you come in there with some BS and think that you’re going to be okay. I think you’re going to come in there with a different mindset.”
