One-on-one with Fort Wayne Mad Ants guard and former top-10 pick Elfrid Payton

Elfrid Payton is trying to work his way back into the NBA

Elfrid Payton has been all over the NBA landscape since being drafted with the 10th overall pick in 2014.

Orlando, Phoenix, New Orleans, and New York were all home for the now 29-year old at various times. He has played in 500 regular season games and started most of them until his most recent season with the Suns. Payton reached the playoffs during the 2021 and 2022 seasons and helped Phoenix reach the second round last year. His career has taken him to many places.

Now, that place is the G League. After playing in 50 games for the Suns last season, Payton didn't land on an NBA roster for the 2022-23 campaign. After some time away to figure out his next steps in basketball, Payton joined the Fort Wayne Mad Ants, the Indiana Pacers G League affiliate team.

So far, the NBA veteran has played in nine games for the Mad Ants, where he has averaged 8.1 points and 6.0 assists per game. After Fort Wayne's final regular season home game of the 2022-23 campaign, Payton chatted with AllPacers about his journey to the G League, his time with the Mad Ants, and more.

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AllPacers: What led you to this opportunity with the Mad Ants in the G League? I heard you hadn't even watched a G League game prior to joining these guys.

Elfrid Payton: Just kind of finding a way to further my career, trying to get back into the NBA. Kind of went back and forth between overseas and the G League. After talking to a lot of people and gathering more information, I decided [on the] G League.

AllPacers: Was there some soul searching for you between last year with Phoenix and now, figuring out what you wanted to do, where you wanted to go with your career?

Elfrid Payton: Nah. I knew I wanted to be back, I knew I wanted to play in the NBA. I still feel like I can play in the NBA. Those decisions are not for me. This was something that I thought I could do to help my career. Try to come knock it out.

AllPacers: Looking through all the teams, what made Fort Wayne specifically the right one for you to do that?

Elfrid Payton: It just kind of happened. They went down with a couple injuries, they needed a point guard. I liked the fact that they [are] set up in Indiana, close to an NBA facility to be able to have access to - to be able to work out and stuff like that. It just kind of made sense.

AllPacers: Have you talked to any pro teams about what they are looking for from you at this stage to get up there again?

Elfrid Payton: I personally haven't. Maybe my agent [has]. [I've] been talking to the GM down here. Stuff like that. That hasn't really been my focus. I'm just enjoying the journey. Trying to get better every day. Trying to help these guys as much as I can, give them as much knowledge about the NBA and what's expected, stuff like that.

AllPacers: I saw you doing that on the bench, being more kind of a coach type. What goes into that for you? Is that natural for you to be that kind of player?

Elfrid Payton: Yeah, for sure. That's natural. That's natural. One of my principles in life honestly is leaving stuff better than I found it. As much as I can, I try to give knowledge. First thing I wanted to do here was earn their respect first. I didn't want to just come here and like 'whoa!'. Couldn't be that guy. I wanted to earn their respect first.

AllPacers: You talked about the NBA part. What goals do you have with this? Is that the ultimate goal? Is there anything else you want to accomplish in this?

Elfrid Payton: I'm going to enjoy the journey. Obviously the ultimate goal is to get back into the NBA. But I'm enjoying the journey just wherever this takes me, man.

You can watch the entire interview by clicking the video below.

Payton has averaged 10.1 points and 5.7 assists per game in the NBA. His goal, as he shared, is to make it back into the league one day.

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