In Payton’s Pursuit of Ring, His Talk Is Finally Cheap

Gary Payton is talking. Get used to it, Los Angeles.

As his cousin Glen King said, “Gary’s got a mouthpiece.”

The Lakers’ newest star brings more than a stronger-than-it-looks body and averages of 18 points and seven assists.

He brings big-time verbal game, a mouth that can cut down opponents or call out management, with a vocabulary that might require a few additions to your mental dictionary.

Take money.

It’s not only cash or loot. In Glovespeak, it can be Feddies or cheddar or, my all-time favorite, paper.

That last one comes from a conversation a couple of years ago, when I asked him if he ever hit the tables in Las Vegas.

“I’m not letting them get in my bank account,” Payton said.

I mentioned that Michael Jordan isn’t afraid to gamble.

“That’s ‘cause Michael has tremendous paper,” Payton said.

“Look, we’ve all got money. But Michael’s got treee-MEN-dous paper.”

So you never know what form of education or entertainment you’re going to get when Gary Payton opens his mouth. The latest surprise, the one that might tip the balance of NBA power back toward the Lakers, came this week when he agreed to join them for the mid-level exception -- less than half of the $10 million or so he could have made elsewhere.

Unlike so many other players who say they want a championship but instead seek the big contract, Payton put the emphasis on the rings -- not the Feddies.

“Some guys ... they think they probably have a couple of more years that they can get the big money and then at the end, they can go their last two years and get on a championship team,” said Payton, whose 35th birthday is July 23. “But me, myself, I wanted to play while I was still producing. I wanted to play where I could come in there and I could help them. I didn’t want to be on the bench. I think I’ve got a little bit more pride in playing basketball. I like basketball, and I wanted to be on a team where we are a dynasty, I was a part of it and made big shots. I think it was more satisfying to me to come right now.”

The Lakers need Payton’s attitude as much as his skills.

After winning three consecutive championships, the Lakers plodded through the 2002-03 season like a Winnebago on cruise control. Payton’s the guy in the sports car who can’t wait to pass.

With Payton, “Everything’s competitive,” said Trevor Pope, his longtime friend from Oakland. “Everything.”

“If you can’t hang, don’t swang,” Glen King chimed in.

“Whatever we do, somebody’s going to come in first, second or third,” Pope said. “Cards, talking about sports, talking about anything. Somebody has to come in first.”

King, 37, and Pope, 34, help Payton manage his daily business. They also know him as well as anyone. They’ve seen him talk trash during a game of dominoes. They’ve felt his wrath when they didn’t provide a quick enough answer for why his cars had not yet been shipped to his summer home in Vegas.

“Never a dull moment,” King said.

“When it’s up, it gets up,” Pope said.

“He can get [ticked] off, he’ll get to that 14, 15 level,” King said.

“Real quick,” Pope said.

“Oh, fast,” King said.

“It’s like, he can get to 15, 20,” Pope said. “Then in 10 seconds he can get back to one. That’s not a person you like to get on you. But at the same time, five seconds later he’s [fine]. Then you’re like, ‘Weren’t you just ready to rip my head off?’ ”

So how will this strong personality fit into a Laker locker room that already contains Shaquille O’Neal’s mood swings and Kobe Bryant’s stubborn solidarity?

“I think he’s going to be the big brother,” King said. “He’s the oldest, the elder statesman. I think that’s going to be the role he wants to take, [to come] from an advisory standpoint. I mean, these guys have won championships already, without Gary, so there ain’t much [he can tell them].”

Pope said Payton could best be summarized as a “hard, nice guy.”

“That’s a good description,” King said.

Payton refurbished a gym in Oakland and built a basketball court in Seattle. He’s one of the most dependable players in the off-season charity game circuit. And if you’re wondering how he’ll adjust to a lineup with O’Neal, Bryant and possibly Karl Malone, his play in the charity and all-star games gives a good clue. He passes the ball to the young guys and lets them showcase their skills. Payton doesn’t want the glory for himself. He only requires a couple of layups.

Which brings up the question: When’s the last time Payton dunked during an NBA game?

“1977,” Pope jumped in.

“I dunked in 2000,” Payton said.

“He dunked on Artis Gilmore,” Pope said.

That got the competitive juices flowing. Payton who already says that a championship will be the only satisfactory finish to the season, makes a prediction for opening night.

“I’m going to get a dunk that first game,” Payton said. “I’m going to be so hyped.”

When he gets hyped, the mouth gets going. The oral onslaught can get so intense that former teammate Michael Cage once said, “When you’re done, you just want to go find a library or something, someplace totally silent.”

Payton is one of the all-time great trash talkers, but he laments the declining level of yapping in today’s league. Not even Reggie Miller or Antoine Walker can give him a good battle anymore, he said.

That doesn’t mean his guns are rusty, though.

“Any young cat, if he pops off, I’m going to go right at him,” Payton said. “You know I’m going to go at him.”

Gary Payton is talking. Better listen to what he says.

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J.A. Adande can be reached at j.a.adande@latimes.com.