It’s a Quiet Homecoming

As modern homecomings go, this wasn’t bad. Gary Payton didn’t bite Sonic owner Howard Schultz in the neck or say mean things to him.

No one was arrested or is even likely to be fined and everyone had a good time except the guest of honor and his new team, the Lakers, who lost Shaquille O’Neal yet again and fell for the fifth time in eight games.

Happily for Payton, he minded his manners and scored 24 points. Unhappily, he missed a free throw with 1:11 left that would have put the Lakers ahead and they lost, 111-109.

“I’m too old for that [taunting],” said Payton afterward. “I don’t get into that kind of stuff. Man, that’s childish. They’re going on with their life, I’m going on with my life.”

Last week when he was younger, Payton said he hoped Schultz would be sitting in his usual courtside seat because he had something to say to him. Friday, however, Gary may have remembered his mother telling him if he couldn’t say anything nice not to say anything at all.

This day was a long time coming. The night after the Sonics traded Payton to Milwaukee, the Bucks were to play here.

The Sonics say they prepared a hero’s welcome for Payton that night, included a lavish videotape tribute that ran and an opportunity to address the fans.

However, Payton didn’t show up that night. Also missing the game was Schultz; he said one of his kids had a game he had to go to.

With one tribute in the books, the Sonics said they were treating Friday’s game as routine. There was an 80-second video tribute of Payton but it was titled as one of the “Great Moments in Sonics History.”

Let’s face it, seeing Payton in any other uniform is painful here.

Junior Griffey left, but at least he didn’t return wearing Yankee pinstripes. To the contrary, he had the decency to fall apart as a player as soon as he departed.

Alex Rodriguez left, but he signed a contract so large, it doomed his new team from the day he arrived.

Shawn Kemp left but he immediately swelled up to the size of the Hindenburg and became a laughingstock.

Payton came back Friday night wearing Laker purple. Around here, it doesn’t get any worse than that.

Nor was it pure joy for Payton, nursing his grudge against Schultz, the Starbucks magnate who bought the team late in Gary’s 13-year Sonic career and made it clear that they would soon be headed in another direction.

Schultz’s brainstorm was going to be letting Payton go as a free agent last summer and using the money saved to sign Jason Kidd.

Not that Kidd ever had any intention of coming. And since Jason and Gary are bosom buddies, Payton must have known what was going on and couldn’t have liked it.

In Payton style, he insulted Schultz in earthy terms for the benefit of visiting Seattle writers, so his comments appeared verbatim in the local papers throughout the week.

“He has marked the date for a long time and now the day has arrived,” said Sonic Coach Nate McMillan of his former teammate before the game.

McMillan and Payton were once bosom buddies, but hadn’t talked since the trade.

“I tried, early, when the trade happened and maybe a couple weeks after that,” said McMillan. “And he wasn’t ready to talk. I understand that. If we don’t speak, I know the respect is still there. I think I know Gary well enough....

“I’ll see him for the first time. I think it’ll be strange because there will be a lot of Laker fans. This building has always had a lot of Laker fans. You didn’t know if you were home or on the road. They’ll have even more fans tonight.”

The Sonics made a point of saying they would introduce Payton first and would not cut off cheers by introducing the next player. Upon introduction, Gary got a loud, warm 65-second ovation.

Then he went over to the Sonic bench and hugged McMillan and assistant coach Dwayne Casey and shook hands with assistant coach Bob Weiss.

After that, the going got tougher, as O’Neal went out and the Sonics moved into a nine-point fourth-quarter lead before Kobe Bryant tried to pull it back in single-handedly, as he so often does lately, and couldn’t. That’s happened before, too.