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Gary "The Glove" Payton hands out accolades to Marcus Smart

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A compliment from Gary "The Glove" Payton means a lot. Gary recently gave Celtics guard, Marcus Smart, a huge shout-out. The NBA Champion, 9X All-Star, DPOY (1996) and 9X All-Defensive Team star doesn't hand out accolades all that often.


Here are a few of Payton's plaudits to Smart:

"You remind me of myself - a lot!"

"You got the dog in you."

"You gotta be on the vocal side."

"You gotta be the one to take over."


The Glove won his only Championship as a reserve with the 2005-06 Miami Heat. In the 1995-96 season, Gary's 6th year in the NBA, he had averages of 19.3 PPG, 4.2 RPG, 7.5 APG and 2.9 SPG. But his best statistical season may have been 1999-2000 when he averaged an astounding 24.2 PPG, 6.5 RPG, 8.9 APG and 1.9 SPG. The following analysis is via Wikipedia:

Payton is widely considered one of the best point guards of all time. He is the only point guard to win the NBA Defensive Player of the Year award. He was selected to the NBA All-Defensive First Team nine times, an NBA record he shares with Michael Jordan, Kevin Garnett and Kobe Bryant. He was also a nine-time NBA All-Star and a nine-time All-NBA Team member.

Considered the "NBA's reigning high scorer among point guards" in his prime, Payton is referred to as "probably as complete a guard as there ever was" by Basketball Hall of Famer Gail Goodrich.

Marcus' 6th-season numbers don't match those of The Glove, but the shout-out is appropriate. Smart does have "the dog" in him, and he learned, and employed, his "vocal side". Smart isn't the volume scorer that we saw with Payton, but like Gary, Marcus does a bit of everything to win. As @RedsArmy_John suggested, Payton's compliment was rare and much-deserved.

Follow Tom at @CelticsSentinel, @CausewayStreet and Facebook

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