Chicago Bulls: Gary Payton says Stockton was harder to guard than MJ

Former Chicago Bulls legendary shooting guard Michael Jordan was still an extremely difficult defensive matchup for Gary Payton.

At the latter end of his run with the Chicago Bulls, all-time great shooting guard Michael Jordan did have some difficult opposition he faced in the playoffs. The six-time NBA Champion, 14-time NBA All-Star selection, and five-time MVP award winner, Jordan was someone that very few players that were able to slow down during the dynasty years of the Bulls in the 1990’s, though.

But there is apparently one former opponent of his that feels like MJ was not the most difficult player he ever had to guard. Hall-of-Famer, nine-time All-Star, and former Seattle SuperSonics defensive stopper point guard Gary Payton has sounded off before about how he was a good defensive matchup against Jordan.

And Payton apparently feels that the Hall-of-Fame former Utah Jazz superstar point guard John Stockton was a more difficult matchup on defense than Jordan. According to a piece from earlier this week on The Basketball Network (originally on NBC Sports), Payton detailed why Stockton was more difficult to guard during his playing days in the NBA than Jordan.

Here’s more on what Payton had to say on the matter in this piece.

"Those battles were a little easier. I would have Jordan get mad at me and go back at me. He knew he was talented and could do whatever he wanted to. But [Stockton] was more of a challenge to me than guarding someone that would talk back to me. When you talk back to me and say something to me, it made my game go to another level. John was one who wouldn’t say anything, and you couldn’t figure him out. He’d keep going in the pick and rolls, and he and Karl Malone would score a big bucket. At times I would guard Jordan and get him mad and into other things."

It seems like the mental game that Jordan liked to play with his opponents actually benefited Payton in the end. Or at least that’s how it played out in his mind. The way that Stockon quietly went about his business and was able to make all of his teammates around him more productive is a point that Payton hits on here.

So how do the numbers actually stack up between Payton and Jordan, compared to him playing against Stockton?

Payton went 22-27 in his career in the regular season against Stockton, while averaging 17.0 points per game. In the playoffs, he went 10-11 against Stockton while averaging 16.9 points per game. He also held Stockton to 12.0 points per game in the playoffs and 14.0 points per game in their meetings in the regular season.

In the regular season, Payton held a record of 5-10 against Jordan, and held the Bulls great to 30.5 points per game. In the playoffs, Payton held a record of 2-4 against Jordan, holding him to 27.3 points per game. The one time that Payton and Jordan met in the postseason was in the 1996 NBA Finals, which resulted in a six-game series victory for the Bulls.

Jordan and Stockton are definitely two all-time great guards, but the former of the two would appear to be the more difficult scorer to guard, even for a defensive stopper like Payton. The proof is in the numbers.