The 50 Greatest Players in Milwaukee Bucks History

47. Gary Payton – Milwaukee’s Best Rental

The Stats: One season played in Milwaukee. 19.6/3.1/7.4/1.4/0.3 on 46.6/29.4/74.6.

The Accolades: Lead the 2003 Bucks in points and assists per game in their first round loss to the then New Jersey Nets. 8th among all Bucks in points per game, and third in assists per game.  

The Breakdown: Okay, so saying Gary Payton spent a season with the Bucks may be a slight overstatement. He played 28 regular season games in Milwaukee, plus six postseason games. But although he was a Buck for merely 34 combined games, he was fantastic in that small sample size.

Payton actually played his best basketball with the Bucks in terms of points per game, assists per game and blocks per game. He was great in Milwaukee, but the fanbase was going to be against him anyway seeing as Ray Allen was lose in the trade that brought him to the Bucks.

He carried the Bucks in the 2003 playoffs, but the Jason Kidd-led, defending champion New Jersey Nets were simply too good for Payton and the Bucks to contend with. If only Milwaukee had been able to keep Payton around just a bit longer.

Next: Number 46