Gary Payton or Paul Pierce

[JordansBulls]

Who is the better player?

[TheXFactor]

Pierce.

[EArl]

Close one but Pierce has the edge.

[kasino]

Payton very easily

[SKR]

Really close in my eyes - and I really like(d) both of the players mentioned.
Couldn't really go wrong with either of them - but I personally would take Pierce like 6 times out of 10.

[ubernathan]

Payton, Pierce could never do anything on his own he needed KG Allen and Rondo. Payton did more with less.

[ahonui06]

Pierce

[-Kees-]

Payton

[Lightning25]

Payton, Pierce could never do anything on his own he needed KG Allen and Rondo. Payton did more with less.

I still find it funny how people are blaming Pierce for not being able to do anything as the 1st option. We can start off with how he actually did do something as the #1 option as he got his garbage team to the ECF in 2002.

Pierce's supporting cast was complete junk before Ray-KG. It was up there with KG's terrible supporting cast in Minnesota. That was the reason why none of those three could do anything and it was also the main reason why they teamed up.

The answer is Pierce. He was a better scorer, better shooter, underrated passer, better rebounder, and a good defender in his own right.

[ThunderDan9]

Payton.

[JordansBulls]

Payton, Pierce could never do anything on his own he needed KG Allen and Rondo. Payton did more with less.

I still find it funny how people are blaming Pierce for not being able to do anything as the 1st option. We can start off with how he actually did do something as the #1 option as he got his garbage team to the ECF in 2002.

Pierce's supporting cast was complete junk before Ray-KG. It was up there with KG's terrible supporting cast in Minnesota. That was the reason why none of those three could do anything and it was also the main reason why they teamed up.

The answer is Pierce. He was a better scorer, better shooter, underrated passer, better rebounder, and a good defender in his own right.

Yeah, but Payton was able to lead a team to 6 seasons in a row of 55+ wins and never had anyone of KG's caliber either.

[Lightning25]

Yeah, but Payton was able to lead a team to 6 seasons in a row of 55+ wins and never had anyone of KG's caliber either.

Feel free to check who was on Payton's team. His team was pretty stacked. It doesn't matter if he didn't have anyone of KG's caliber because his team was still very good overall.

[AdamTheGreek]

Prime Glove with his defense and court leadership blows Pierce out of the water.

[JordansBulls]

Yeah, but Payton was able to lead a team to 6 seasons in a row of 55+ wins and never had anyone of KG's caliber either.

Feel free to check who was on Payton's team. His team was pretty stacked. It doesn't matter if he didn't have anyone of KG's caliber because his team was still very good overall.

Not saying his team wasn't stacked, but Pierce's was as well and the thing is, is that most of the time when Pierce had a stacked team he wasn't the best player on it.

[SonicMcMahon]

Yeah, but Payton was able to lead a team to 6 seasons in a row of 55+ wins and never had anyone of KG's caliber either.

Feel free to check who was on Payton's team. His team was pretty stacked. It doesn't matter if he didn't have anyone of KG's caliber because his team was still very good overall.

Not saying his team wasn't stacked, but Pierce's was as well and the thing is, is that most of the time when Pierce had a stacked team he wasn't the best player on it.

But that's not totally fair to say, because if GP was joined with Kevin Garnett he wouldn't be the best player on his team either. Furthermore, in '95 and '96 Payton was at a level with Kemp, and not the clear leader; both players shared the role.

Ultimately, I do agree though to give the nod to Payton here. I like his peak more than Pierce's for total impact on the game. Longevity as a factor: I might ranked Pierce's career as better than Payton's, especially given more years to come for Paul's resume. But if I'm building a team, give me Payton.