He’s Not Sleepless Over Seattle Exit

Maybe Gary Payton had hoped to finish his career in Seattle, an end-to-end, jersey-in-the-rafters, bust-in-the-lobby SuperSonic.

Those who know him -- George Karl, for one -- believe he did.

But, that dissolved with the change in ownership in Seattle, the contract extension that never came, new owner Howard Schultz’s supposed fascination with Jason Kidd and Payton’s being traded to Milwaukee, ending a relationship that began with the 1990 draft and bubbled along for nearly 13 seasons.

It brings Payton to his week of reckoning, in which he’ll return Friday night to Seattle, not as a Milwaukee Buck but as a Laker, chasing a championship and not merely a playoff berth.

In retrospect, Payton said, spending all of his professional years in Seattle, “wasn’t going to happen.”

“Once the ownership got changed over, I knew it wasn’t going to ever happen,” he said. “Getting an [owner] in there who didn’t really like me ... wasn’t going to be any good for me. So, it’s cool. I didn’t care. I knew it was going to come to an end pretty soon.”

Schultz, the Starbucks’ chairman, bought the SuperSonics in April 2001. The owner and his point guard honeymooned for a year, but split a year later over the details of a contract extension, the major detail being whether one had been promised or not.

Payton famously skipped media day at the start of last season, Schultz pointedly observed that plenty of Seattle’s unemployed would love to have any job to go to, leading Payton’s agent to wonder if Schultz had mistaken Payton for one of his coffee pourers.

Sunday night, the eve of Seattle week, Payton sighed and said he was looking forward to seeing the fans at KeyArena, and laughed at the thought that Latrell Sprewell had set the bar quite high -- or low, depending on one’s perspective -- for the returning disgruntled.

“I knew they were going to do something crazy anyway,” he said. “It wasn’t really a surprise. I just didn’t know where I was going. They weren’t going to send me to the West because they didn’t want to play against me. But it happened in the summer. I knew they were going to have to play against me. I knew I was coming back to the West, just to play against them. It’s no big thing. I don’t care. We’re going to go back to Seattle and I’m just going to play.”

It is assumed the fans will welcome Payton with enthusiasm. Horace Grant, who played one season in Seattle with Payton, predicted a warm ovation, at least. Payton represented the organization in nine All-Star games, took it to the playoffs 10 times.

“I had a relationship with the fans,” he said. “The fans know I did a lot for Seattle in the 12 years I was there. It’s not against the city or the fans. It’s not against them. We had a falling out [with] the organization. The new people that took over the organization, we weren’t together.

“I’m not mad at the fans, I’m not mad at the city of Seattle. But I have to move on. This is the way they wanted it to happen, so I have to move on.”

At 35, he has found success and, it appears, happiness in Los Angeles alongside Shaquille O’Neal, Karl Malone and Kobe Bryant. Predictably, he has taken a five-points-a-game hit in his scoring average (18.3). Whereas he has strained to pick up the subtleties of Coach Phil Jackson’s triangle offense and struggled to run the floor because of a sore heel, Payton’s shooting, 48%, is its best in nearly a decade and he is second in the league in assists per turnover at 3.76.

As a result, the Lakers are 21-7, despite four losses in their last seven games.

“I mean, shoot, I’m winning,” he said. “I don’t have to do as much. I don’t have to pound my body. I’m having fun, playing the way I want to play. It’s been a joyful thing, especially with the four of us, me, Karl, [Kobe] and Shaquille playing together. It’s great.

“I have an opportunity every night to come out and win basketball games. Knowing we’re going to be in contention for a championship is really good.”

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Off Monday, the Lakers practice today.... Bryant did not shoot a free throw Sunday. The last time he failed to go to the line was March 30 at Seattle. Before that, it was Dec. 25, 2001, against Philadelphia. After averaging 8.9 free throws in his first 22 games, he has averaged 3.6 in his last five.

Bryant might be pleased to see December end. Since Nov. 30, he is shooting 31.3%.... O’Neal has at least 10 rebounds in 10 of his last 11 games, and at least 15 in six of them.