Honorary Warrior For Life, Gary Payton II ?
Honorary Warrior For Life, Gary Payton II ?
We let Dub Nation decide
The master list of Honorary Warriors For Life lists everyone already polled.
Introducing Honorary Warriors For Life
The concept is simple. You get to vote on the question “Is X an Honorary Warrior For Life?”
What does that phrase mean? I once tried to define it, and people found it more fun to bring in their own definitions, so it is now back to being kept vague, like “Most Valuable Player” or “Greatest Of All Time”.
You can vote at the poll at the end of the article or at Twitter, or in the comments. Comment votes count as 10 normal poll votes.
The Nominee
What a wild trip for Gary Payton II, GP2. The Warriors offered him a big hunk of money, but POR offered him more money and more years, and so he’s now a Trailblazer.
Look at the ups and downs of his pro career:
September 23, 2016: Signed a contract with the Houston Rockets.
October 24, 2016: Waived by the Houston Rockets.
April 2, 2017: Signed a multi-year contract with the Milwaukee Bucks.
October 14, 2017: Waived by the Milwaukee Bucks.
October 17, 2017: Signed a two-way contract with the Milwaukee Bucks.
December 18, 2017: Waived by the Milwaukee Bucks.
January 15, 2018: Signed a two-way contract with the Los Angeles Lakers.
September 4, 2018: Signed a contract with the Portland Trail Blazers.
October 13, 2018: Waived by the Portland Trail Blazers.
January 21, 2019: Signed a 10-day contract with the Washington Wizards.
December 23, 2019: Signed a contract for the rest of the season with the Washington Wizards.
April 8, 2021: Signed a 10-day contract with the Golden State Warriors.
April 19, 2021: Signed a 2nd 10-day contract with the Golden State Warriors.
May 16, 2021: Signed a contract with the Golden State Warriors.
October 16, 2021: Waived by the Golden State Warriors.
October 19, 2021: Signed a contract with the Golden State Warriors.
July 6, 2022: Signed a multi-year contract with the Portland Trail Blazers.
Cut from GSW, he came back and then almost got cut again after missing most of preseason…
then he squeaked on to the 15th roster spot past veteran-favorite Avery Bradley, then he rewarded Kerr’s little bits of playing time with instant steals…
His electric play also led to big impact in the playoffs…
until his shocking injury in the Grizzlies series.
His importance had grown such that his absence actually made people wonder if GSW could win without him. He rehabbed hard and came back in time to make nice contributions to the Finals.
Bonus Videos
The Poll
Vote below, or in the comments. Comment votes count as 10 normal poll votes.
The difference between the Blazers offer and the Warriors offer was >4x his career earnings, has anyone ever left 4x career earnings on the table? He put his body on the line for GSW, played 200 crucial playoff minutes, started a couple games, finished even more, and brought us a title all for a Vet Minimum. A top five most important minimum contract dynasty Warrior along with Porter/McGee/West/Barbosa.
Count me as a 'yes' for GPII. I'm realizing that on this whole HWFL thing, I've become totally inconsistent. I don't care. GPII embodies something of the Warrior culture and spirit -- like JTA and Damion Lee. Durant was a WAY better player and had a huge impact on winning in his three years with the Ws. I still have a soft spot for him. But increasingly, he does NOT embody the team-first, buy into the system, scrap-until-you-find-a-way-to-contribute ethos of the Ws.