Quotes from Gary Payton

I did a lot of things I regret.

The thing that I regret is not having better relationships with a lot of people. Being the hard-nosed guy that I was, I think I could've come off a little bit better in my relationships with a lot of people, and I didn't.

As people know in coaching, you can get fired and hired just like that.

Way to rock lil' homie. Much Love.

I like Draymond Green's intensity... but every time I didn't get a call I didn't cry all the time.

You talk about rowdy - in Oakland the players were on you. The refs were on you. The stands were on you. You had to talk back or you were a sissy; you'd get run out of the league. Afterward? Yeah, it was kind of a, uh, struggle to get out of the gym. Cops had to be everywhere. Which was lucky.

I would go after any rookie. Any rookie with a lot of hype. I used to do it to Jason Kidd. I would go at him. I'd be like, 'Young fella, you're going to get a rude awakening in the NBA.'

I'm not a jealous guy.

I think if you ask any young guy if they would want a career like Gary Payton, they would tell you yes.

When I was talking a lot of trash, a lot of the guys knew that when I started getting serious was when I started getting a little bit quieter. If I started locking up somebody, then I'd start talking even more and I'd talk more aggressive. But once I stopped, they knew I was really serious.

If you see yourself in the paper every day and people keep talking about you, you will have a little breakdown in yourself, too.

Guys like Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Kevin Garnett, they'll take bad criticism in a good way.

Kobe Bryant, to me, is still the best basketball player in my mind. He played with me and he was in my era. I still love him to death. He's a little brother to me.

The NBA tries to be about flash. But real fans recognize the guy who makes things happen.

I haven't gotten in any trouble off the floor.

To go into Key Area every day, sold out, it was hard to come in there and get a win against us. That's when we used to make people understand, you can't come in and get a win against us. We were probably one of the hardest arenas to win in. Our fans were crazy. They would camp out.

I don't need to be in New York. If you've had a bad game, they're booing you and all that mess.

I was really excited about going to Miami because of coach Riley. And getting with him has been a change for me and really good for me.

I can't think ok, I got 35 points, he got 35, I did something good.

If Seattle could put my jersey on top of the Space Needle, they would.

What's the difference? Ninety million or 80 million. You still can't spend it all.

When I was playing, it was me playing both ends of the floor, playing offense, playing defense and I gave the ball up with assists. It wasn't like me doing one thing, scoring 25 and having three assists and one steal.

I was guarding the best player and getting 25 and having eight assists, and three-four steals.

The trash-talking, I think I would like to take that back. I really didn't want to get known as that, but that was just the way I was, the way I grew up back in Oakland, Calif., back on the playgrounds.