On the last day he took the Gill Coliseum floor, Gary Payton II waited until the last possible moment to lift off his warm-up and reveal a tribute to his father.
Donning his dad's No. 20 for the first time, he jogged over to his parents' courtside seats to give his father his customary pregame hug and fully embrace the on-court legacy from which he once shied away.
"One of the number one things he could have done in his life," his mother, Monique Payton, said.
Gary Payton II had drawn out tears of joy from his mother on her 50th birthday.