Gary Payton Compares Luka and Reaves to Jordan and Pippen. His Full Take Is Worth Hearing.

Gary Payton doesn’t do polite takes. The Hall of Fame point guard played one season with the Lakers back in 2003-04, alongside Kobe, Shaq, and Karl Malone. That team was supposed to steamroll everyone. They lost to the Pistons in five games in the Finals. So when Payton talks about pressure and roster construction in L.A., he’s speaking from a place that’s equal parts experience and skepticism.

He sat down for a one-on-one interview recently and dropped a comparison that’ll get people talking. Payton sees the new-look Lakers — the post-LeBron iteration built around Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves — as a version of the old Bulls dynasty. Except he flipped the roles.

Luka is Michael Jordan, in Payton’s view. And Reaves is Scottie Pippen.

Payton’s Batman and Robin Framework

“You’re building around Luka, that’s what you’re building around,” Payton said. “Reaves is going to be your Scottie Pippen. So it’s just like with us in Seattle, it’s me and Shawn Kemp. It’s Luka and Reaves. They’re building around their guys, and they’re trying to put people around these dudes that is going to do their job, get a rebound, make a big-time shot, and then let these guys be Batman and Robin.”

That’s high praise for Reaves, an undrafted guard who turned himself into a reliable two-way piece. But it also comes with an honest warning. The Lakers have overhauled their roster in a major way. Their top five players in total playoff minutes from last season are all gone. They traded DeAndre Ayton. They brought in Walker Kessler, who played only five games last year due to injury, and Collin Sexton, who has bounced around. Marcus Smart is also in the mix now.

Payton isn’t sold that everything clicks right away.

The Skepticism Is Real

“That’s why they shipped Ayton out of there,” Payton said. “They’re going to try to do a whole new process. They’re going to build around Luka and Reaves, and we’ll see what happens. I don’t know if they’re going to be that team in the West. I don’t know about that. I know they’re going to have to prove it.”

He’s right to be cautious. Doncic and Reaves are both gifted offensively, but neither is known for locking people down on defense. Kessler is a rim-runner and shot-blocker when healthy, but health is a question. Sexton can score, but his fit alongside two ball-dominant guards is uncertain. Smart brings toughness, but he’s 31 and coming off an uneven season.

Payton sees a lot of moving parts and no guarantee they mesh.

“It’s a lot of question marks,” he said. “Kessler is coming off an injury, we don’t know how he’s going to come back. Sexton has gotten shipped around a couple of times. Is this going to be his fit? Luka has got to be back healthy. Reaves has got to get back fully healthy. If all these guys get back healthy, we don’t know what’s gonna happen.”

The Lakers finished fourth in the West last season with LeBron. Without him, the floor could drop. Payton’s point is simple: building around a star duo sounds great in theory. Making it work in the Western Conference, where depth and defense matter, is a different story.