Not to Be Outdone...
Not to be outdone by the drama effusing from past team mates Shaq & Kobe, the Glove has come out publicly and stated that he has absolutely no intention for playing with the Celtics next year. Earlier I blogged about Gary and Rick Fox getting traded to the Celtics, but that trade has been disintegrating ever since, with Rick Fox mulling retirement, and G.P. outright saying he has absolutely no intention of moving to Boston. Displaying his maturity and verbal acumen, Payton was quoted as saying:
I'll quit. I can go on and do something else. I wasn't going to Boston to take a physical. I ain't going to move my family no more. I can't take my family to Boston.
Payton stands to forfeit the $5.4 million dollar salary promised him this year by the Lakers, who he had resigned with in the off-season.
In the end, does this really surprise anyone? It's not necessarily that you'd expect GP to pull a stunt like this - although that, in itself, is not at all alarming - but who thought Danny Ainge could actually do something right, without it backfiring on him? I think there is some sort of cosmic force working against Ainge... just ask Vin Baker, LaFrentz, Walker, or any die-hard Boston fan.