In a recent interview with Scoop B Radio, Hall of Fame guard Gary Payton opened up about the internal disconnect that helped derail the 2003-04 Los Angeles Lakers’ championship run.
Despite boasting a roster that included Shaquille O’Neal, Kobe Bryant, Karl Malone, and Payton himself, the Lakers fell short in the NBA Finals, losing in five games to the Detroit Pistons.
Payton, one of the most decorated point guards in league history, admitted he never embraced head coach Phil Jackson’s triangle offense.
“It wasn’t about me tripping and being incompetent at learning the offense,” Payton told NBA insider Brandon “Scoop B” Robinson. “I didn’t want to learn the damn offense; I wanted to play the way I wanted to play.”
The triangle, designed by Tex Winter and popularized by Jackson, is a read-heavy system emphasizing ball movement, spacing, and limited dribbling.
While it had produced nine championships for Jackson by that time, including six with the Bulls and three with the Lakers, it demanded role flexibility—especially from guards.
Payton had built his game around controlling the tempo, running pick-and-rolls, and dictating from the top of the key.
That approach clashed with the triangle’s structure, which often relegated point guards to secondary roles.
“I came in used to having the ball in my hands,” Payton said in a previous interview. “All of a sudden I’m being told to go to the corner and wait? That’s not how I play.”
Kareem Rush, a young member of that Lakers team, supported Payton’s view in his own comments to Scoop B Radio.
“The Triangle Offense is no easy offense,” Rush said. “Especially when you’re adapting to a style of play alongside Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O’Neal and Karl Malone.”
Rush noted that Payton still played a vital role despite his struggles with the offensive scheme.
“He didn’t have the best year—I don’t think he’d tell you he did either—but he still was an integral part in what we did to get to where we were going,” Rush added.
The Lakers’ season ended with questions about chemistry, buy-in, and whether the team’s All-Stars could ever truly coexist under one system.
Detroit, by contrast, leaned on balance and discipline to secure the title.
Payton would later win a championship with the Miami Heat in 2006, validating his career with a ring earned in a more traditional setup.
