Gary Payton is a Hall of Famer and one of the best point guards to have ever played the game. He is also hugely outspoken and not shy to give his honest opinion when someone asks.
When comparing the game today with when he played, Payton was quite disparaging talking about how playing against Michael Jordan, Dennis Rodman, Shaq, Bird and Johnson and against teams like Detroit was really tough.
So when a reporter asked if he was considering returning to the league in a coaching capacity, the ex Sonics and Heat guard had this to say:
"(I hate) basically everything (about the NBA). There's no defense, run and gun, there's only three point guards in the NBA that impress me. Chris Paul, Rajon Rondo and... Tony Parker. Only three in the whole league.
There's too many touch fouls. You touch someone and they go to the free-throw line. That's no way to watch basketball.
When we were playing it was rough and tough. Superstars like me fouled a lot, because they let people play.
Nowadays, you can't do that. This is the era. In my era i wanted to be one-on-one with a player, let me stop him. Now you can't, you just touch him and it's a foul. And that's a great shame."
Payton is definitely correct. Far too many fouls are called these days on nothing touches. In a video you can see Lebron pushing a defender away, and somehow the foul is called on the defender.
Basketball has gotten soft, defense just doesn't exist anymore and i hope Payton's word register with some people in head office and make a change.
