Speaking to Justin Termine and Eddie Johnson on Sirius XM NBA Radio on Thursday afternoon, the Seattle SuperSonics legend offered his take on Draymond Green's on-court demeanor and Stephen Curry's unanimous MVP.
While Payton praised Green's lockdown capabilities, he said the Defensive Player of the Year runner-up needs to curtail the rate at which he complains to referees.
"I like Draymond Green's intensity ... but every time I didn't get a call I didn't cry all the time," Payton said, per the station's official Twitter account.
To Payton's point, Green has been assessed a league-high four technical fouls this postseason. If the Warriors combo forward racks up three more, his accrual of seven technical fouls will result in a one-game suspension.
However, Green made it clear he plans on curbing the rate at which he jaws with officials.
"I'm not contesting any calls," he said, according to the Associated Press (via NBA.com). "No. Because if I contest a call, no matter how my approach is going to go then, it's going to change. I know me. I'm going to walk the other way, and if they call a foul, 'Good call.' I'm not talking, nope."
Payton's comments are ironic, of course, because he was renowned for having one of the biggest mouths during his prime.
In fact, former NBA referee Joey Crawford recently told Bleacher Report's Howard Beck that Payton and Philadelphia 76ers great Allen Iverson were the biggest complainers he had to deal with. When asked to give just one word to describe Payton, Crawford used the word "loud."
Regarding Curry, Payton said he has no personal issues with the point guard, but he did express displeasure with the 131 reporters who selected him as the league's unanimous MVP, per Termine.
While it's unclear if Payton was insinuating the reporters weren't qualified to vote or that they should have distributed their votes a bit differently, it's hard to argue with Curry's unanimous selection.
Not only did the back-to-back MVP winner drill an NBA-record 402 three-pointers this season, but he did so during a campaign that saw the Warriors leapfrog the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls as the greatest regular-season team in league history with a record of 73-9.
Curry also recorded the eighth-highest player efficiency rating (31.5) in league history while becoming a member of the NBA's 50-40-90 club, per Basketball-Reference.com.
And if his 17-point third-quarter explosion in Golden State's 118-91 Game 2 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday was any indication, Curry will continue to flaunt his MVP credentials as long as the Warriors are alive in the postseason.