Q&A: Seattle Supersonics legend Gary Payton chats with KXLY at Hoopfest

SPOKANE, WA — The Seattle Supersonics may not be coming back anytime soon, but it certainly didn’t feel that way as NBA Hall of Famer Gary Payton was in Spokane for Hoopfest.

RELATED: GALLERY: Hoopfest 2024

The Glove took some time to sign autographs for fans and judge the dunk contest.

Gary Payton caught up with KXLY Sports Director Julian Mininsohn and talked about how this event never fails to amaze him.

Julian Mininsohn: And a guy who we are very happy to have here at Hoopfest. Former Seattle Supersonics great Gary Payton!

Gary Payton: When I was coming, they were like, “You know it’s turned into the biggest thing in the country.” I was like, “How?” When I came it was really small. But as we seeing it now and how many courts that they got, this is great. Especially being the state of Washington, it’s something that everyone can go to in Spokane and it’ll be great.

JM: When you see all the fans that came to see you today, and you got to meet them, what does that do for your heart and the community aspect of what’s going down here in Spokane?

GP: I always told everybody Washington was where I started everything at. I wouldn’t be ‘Gary Payton’ if I didn’t play for the Seattle Supersonics and all these fans. For me to come back to the state of Washington and do these types of things for these types of cities I used to do when I was young or a rookie when we used to play here for exhibition games, it’s just great.

JM: I heard a couple people saying bring back the Sonics while you were over there. What does that do for you when you hear that?

GP: That’s going to happen. I’m not worried. They’re anxious for it. I know it’s coming. It’s going to be good. It’s going to be great when it comes back and then we’re going to have another sport here. Then it’s going to be good. We’re going to be back complete.

JM: You’re going to be judging the dunk contest. Are you a hard grader?

GP: If you didn’t see me in the [NBA] All-Star Game, I was a hard grader. I was a dunk judge at the All-Star Game. You got to do something for me to be hyped. Just because you tried something and miss, that don’t mean it’s a great dunk. If you try 15 times at it, I can’t do it. You got to do something spectacular for me.

MORE: Teenagers represent Italy at Hoopfest for the first time