“Everyone has a vet.” That statement from Kevin Garnett has stuck with me. Sam Mitchell was his. He was Rajon Rondo’s. It’s the circle of NBA life. You would be hard-pressed to find a player whose career was not set on its course by a veteran in his first locker room. Those who become vets themselves pass those lessons along. These are their stories.

[Previously on My Vet: Ray Allen • Vince Carter • Zach Collins • Alonzo Mourning • Chris Mullin • Dennis Scott • Purvis Short • Isiah Thomas]

From 1994-2002, Gary Payton made the All-NBA roster and the All-Defensive First Team each season, finishing a 17-year Hall of Fame career ranked third all-time in steals and sixth in assists. He still ranks among the top 10 in both categories. The No. 2 overall pick by the Seattle SuperSonics in 1990, Payton played in three NBA Finals, famously taking Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls to six games in 1996 and winning alongside Shaquille O’Neal and Dwyane Wade on the Miami Heat a decade later.

Arguably the greatest defensive floor general in the history of the game, The Glove’s reign as the last guard to win Defensive Player of the Year has lasted 24 years and counting. He might also be the best trash talker basketball has ever seen. The 51-year-old is still talking now, often at Yahoo Sports. Payton was in New York City on Friday to promote All-Star voting. We will get to that, but first ...

Who is your vet, and how did that relationship develop?

Payton: I was fortunate to have two of them: Xavier McDaniel and Nate McMillan. … I took Nate’s job as soon as I got to the NBA. They just gave it to me. I didn’t even go in there and earn it. It was like, “You’re our No. 1 pick, so you’re our starter.” That’s what’s happening now. You get drafted as a lottery pick in the top 12, you’re going to start, no matter what, because you don’t have anyone in front of you. You don’t have one of those veterans to teach you.

Nate was like a big brother to me, and we were very tight. Xavier was the same. They humbled me. Coming in here, I wanted to do things I wanted to do, thinking I’m from Oakland, California, and I’m tough, but they really, really made me understand that you have to respect people. It taught me a lot. It taught me how to be a veteran to young guys, and to teach them the same.

That’s why I like it when the San Antonios make their pick down low, because they bring in a good basketball player and [coach Gregg Popovich] grooms him to become something. He didn’t even know Kawhi Leonard was going to be like that. You get a veteran the way he got Tim Duncan and David Robinson to teach you the ropes. When I went in to Seattle, I had eight veterans who were in the league over six or seven years. That was a plus for me, to teach me how to respect somebody. Xavier McDaniel made me respect him. I thought I could do anything I wanted to. He grabbed me one time and almost choked me out. He said, “You’re going to do this. You’re going to go get coffee. You’re going to go get doughnuts.” It’s a game of respect.

What were some of your other rookie duties?

Payton: We used to have to get off the plane and put the bags on the bus when it was cold. They were big bags. We used to call our equipment manager Funky Bunch, and they would be like, “Look, man, get off the plane, go help Funky Bunch put them bags up in there.” I was a No. 2 pick, and I was probably making more money than all of them, but that was one of them things. You had to pay your dues and pay your respects.

Are there guys who you formed a bond with once you became a veteran?

Payton: I got a lot. I got Eric Snow. I got Vin Baker, who now is a little brother to me. Jamal Crawford, Jason Terry. Them are the four I really, really stay in contact with, because they were my younger brothers. Especially Jamal Crawford. Coming from Seattle, I raised him since he was a young pup. Jason Kidd, everybody knows I raised him since he was a pup. Jason Terry used to have my picture in his socks in college. He used to come to all my camps. Vin Baker came to Seattle and got into a lot of stuff. I worked it out with him to get him out of that, and now he’s doing very well as an assistant coach with the Milwaukee Bucks. It’s things like that.

We drafted Eric Snow because he reminded the Sonics and myself of me. We needed a backup point guard to do that, and that’s what he did. These guys are still my guys, and I respect them. They went into the NBA, did what they had to do, learned and listened from me, and we still talk.

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