SEATTLE -- Remember the changed man, the good-guy Gary Payton? The mercurial point guard who matured and became, last season, the player and leader everybody had hoped he could become?

Well, duck your head and run for cover. The ornery Payton is back -- and things in the Pacific Northwest are sure to become infinitely more interesting this season.

Payton skipped Monday's mandatory media-day session to make a point in what has become an ugly public dispute over a contract extension. Yes, you heard -- or read -- correctly. A contract E-X-T-E-N-S-I-O-N. Not even a contract. Payton is making $12.6 million this year, but he's angry that the Seattle Sonics are not rewarding him for his loyalty to the organization by giving him an extension.

	Gary Payton says the Sonics reneged on a promise to extend his contract.

In the grand scheme of things, Payton skipping media day is not that big a deal, really. Michael Jordan skips media day at the All-Star Game every year, takes his $10,000 fine, heads to the first tee with Chucky B and then takes his winnings from the golf game and parlays that into 10 hours at the blackjack table.

But it does strongly indicate that things are no longer hunky dory in Seattle, and that this season could be as volatile and distraction-filled as that season when Vernon Maxwell -- ah, forget it, nothing can top that.

The issues surrounding this latest controversy seem to change week to week, day to day, minute to minute, and at times it's difficult to keep track of who is disrespecting whom, who the victim is and what actually transpired that brought everything to this point. Tolstoy wrote in "War and Peace" that history can never be fully recorded accurately because history changes from every person's perspective. And that seems to be the case in this scenario.

Here is what we do know: Payton and Sonics principal owner Howard Schultz sat down together during halftime of a Seattle Storm WNBA game in late May. What was said is still being debated.

According to Payton and his agents, Schultz told Payton that he would be given a contract extension, and then they said Schultz later reneged on that promise. According to Schultz, here is what took place:

"There is only one story and it is the truth. That is we have always had concerns about the issue of extensions, but we did talk that one day (in May) at the (Seattle) Storm game. And I told him that if the issue of extensions was something that was going to blow up in the press, it would be important for he and I to talk and stay in touch. I invited him and his family to come see me this summer. I thought that would be the right environment to talk about this. There was no follow-up to that, just like there was no follow-up to the attempts made this week to talk to Gary.

"I said to Gary (in May), I did not want this to become a problem and I want him to understand, don't confuse the issue of an extension with a lack of loyalty, because I want you to stay with the organization until you can't play anymore and then I want you to be in a position (in the organization) that is comfortable with you. Aside from that, I can't do any more."

Perhaps it is as simple as that -- misunderstanding about what was said. Granted, it is a $20 million or $30 million misunderstanding, but hey, these things happen between friends.

Schultz indicated he wanted Payton to finish his career as a Sonic, Payton took that to mean he was getting an extension, and now their relationship is severely strained, if not permanently severed. It would be simple if it stopped there, but now words like "disrespect" are being thrown around. For instance, Payton believes the Sonics are disrespecting him by not rewarding him for his loyalty and hard play.

Personally, here is where I have the issue. After Payton, along with Shawn Kemp, led the Sonics to the NBA Finals in 1996, the team gave him a seven-year, $85 million contract that concludes with this season's salary of $12.6 million. People may feel differently, and they have that right, but in my mind, is $85 million not reward enough for playing hard? You are SUPPOSED to play hard for $85 million. The fact that Vin Baker did not play hard for his $85 million does not mean that Payton should be given added props for simply fulfilling the obligation of his contract. And this notion that Payton should be given a thank-you contract, say an additional four years and $40 million because he is the best player the organization has ever known, well, that just doesn't make sound business sense.

I know, I know -- from a fan's perspective, it is the right thing to do. It's the emotional thing to do. But there are plenty of examples of teams doing that and then paying the price later as a team's salary structure is tied up in thank you. Do you think that when they went through those many years of doldrums, Boston Celtics fans wanted to hear its management say, "Well, remember, we tried to reward Larry Bird and Kevin McHale and Robert Parish for what they did, and it prevented us from winning now." Fans have very short memories for things like that.

When I presented this argument to Payton's agent, Aaron Goodwin, he said that the disrespect is more that the Sonics did not even entertain negotiating an extension. They didn't even make an offer. Even an offer for $5 million a year.

But from the Sonics' perspective, you can see why they didn't. Say they make that offer, then Payton comes out in the media and says the Sonics don't value him as the best point guard in the league, that they are "disrespecting" him by offering him only $5 million a year. Then they look like cheapskates. It's a no-win situation for them.

Furthermore, Payton has a chronically bad back. One coach once told me that it is a miracle Payton is even playing. That says volumes about his toughness, but it also highlights that one wrong tweak and he could be done. And he certainly is not going to give back whatever money the Sonics would have given him just because he could no longer play.

Plus, there are additional factors. The Sonics are in a situation very similar to that of the Los Angeles Clippers, where many of their young players are up for new contracts soon. Rashard Lewis went through a nasty contract dispute this past summer. Payton is up next summer, and the contract of Desmond Mason, a supreme talent and genuinely great guy, can be extended at the same time. After that, Vladimir Radmanovic's contract can be extended, and the contract of Brent Barry expires.

Basically, the Sonics have to make some very educated choices about the way they want to spend their money if they intend to keep their nucleus intact while remaining at or around the luxury tax threshold. Payton does not want to hear this -- particularly after he has gotten used to earning very, very, very large paychecks -- but the Sonics, and almost every other team for that matter, cannot willy nilly give him $15 million a year and expect to maintain the salary structure they have mapped out for the future.

	The season is sure to become something of a circus. Much the same way that Chris Webber was hounded in virtually every city he went to about whether he was willing to come to that city as a free agent, Payton is certain to face the same thing now that he has made the issue public.

As this past summer has shown, the economic climate of this league has changed. Players, even great players like Payton, are not going to have vast amounts of money thrown at them without regard to the consequences -- and certainly not by as shrewd a businessman as Schultz.

What the Sonics are hoping is that Payton will do what John Stockton did, and take a series of one-year contracts at perhaps $8 million a year, until he feels he can no longer play. He would still be the highest-paid Sonic, and they could stay within the boundaries of their financial plan. Goodwin says no way, and his arguments have merit. Payton is five years younger than Stockton, and Payton is still much more productive than Stockton. But those are arguments for the future.

Unfortunately, what this has dissolved into is a save-face, tit-for-tat ugliness that is overshadowing what otherwise was a pretty good summer for the Sonics.

Seattle will not trade Payton because its fan base would be enraged that the face of the team, a guy who unquestionably plays hard every night, is permitted to leave a town that already has said goodbye to Ken Griffey, Randy Johnson and Alex Rodriguez. In order to trade Payton, the team must wait for him to demand a trade. And Payton will not demand a trade because it lets the Sonics off the hook and makes Payton look like the bad guy. (Some people feel that Payton doesn't actually want to be traded, that he has become so comfortable in Seattle that it frightens him to go elsewhere.)

Whatever the case, the season is sure to become something of a circus. Much the same way that Chris Webber was hounded in virtually every city he went to about whether he was willing to come to that city as a free agent, Payton is certain to face the same thing now that he has made the issue public. What remains to be seen is whether his displeasure over the entire situation will have an effect on the court.

Will he care only about his own numbers in order to have the best argument for future contract negotiations? Will he stop being the leader the Sonics have asked him to be simply because he feels he was not rewarded for toeing the company line and now he wants to spite them? WIll he return to the previous Payton, the one who threatened management, who fought with teammates, who spurned the media?

If nothing else, Payton is always unpredictable. Stay tuned for the fun.

Frank Hughes, who covers the NBA for the Tacoma (Wash.) News-Tribune, is a regular contributor to ESPN.com.