Five father-and-son duos who have a connection with the Miami Heat

Gary Payton and Gary Payton II

This is a fascinating father-son duo as both players achieved glory and won an NBA title. The Heat connection comes into play with Gary Payton, who joined Miami in 2005 and helped the Heat win their first-ever NBA championship.

During his 17-season career, Payton became one of the best two-way guards to ever play the game, earning an All-Rookie Second Team spot, nine All-Star, All-Defensive and All-NBA selections, and a Defensive Player of the Year award in 1996. Payton spent most of his career on the Seattle Supersonics but also played for the Milwaukee Bucks, Los Angeles Lakers, and the Boston Celtics before joining his final team, the Miami Heat.

Payton made two NBA Finals before joining Miami and lost in Seattle to the 1996 Chicago Bulls in what many consider the greatest team of all time, and also lost in Los Angeles to the Detroit Pistons in 2004. Payton was considered to be one of the greatest players to never win a ring, but Payton joined the Heat at the right time with Dwyane Wade rising to superstardom along with Shaquille O'Neal who was still playing at an All-Star level.

Payton joined the Heat way past his prime and was giving Miami nowhere near his production in Seattle, but his defense and veteran presence was vital for Miami, and in the Heat's monumental comeback in Game 3 against the Dallas Mavericks, Payton hit the biggest shot of the game to give Miami the lead, and the rest was history.

On the other side, unlike his father who found a home in Seattle, Payton II was undrafted and found himself on different G-league and NBA teams. Before joining the Warriors, Payton II was on the Milwaukee Bucks, Los Angeles Lakers and the Washington Wizards. He also played for the Portland Trail Blazers in 2022 but was then traded back to the Warriors.

Although Payton II does not have a career trajectory of becoming one of the 75 greatest NBA players to ever play like his father, Payton II is similar to Payton when it comes to making an impact on the defensive end.

During the Warriors 2022 title run, Payton II was tasked in guarding players such as Ja Morant, Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. And like father like son, Payton II also hit a dagger shot to put a game away, in this instance being Game 5 against the Denver Nuggets to put the Warriors up five and give them breathing room to close out the game.

In the 2022 NBA Finals, Payton II joined Manu Ginobili to put up a stat line only two players off the bench have ever done in Finals history.

Both Paytons had different journeys in the NBA, but for each of them to say they won an NBA championship and had key contributions during their run is something not a lot of father-and-son duos can say they accomplished.