I wanted to write this column early, just in case things change. But for right now, at least, through a training camp and two weeks of the regular season, Seattle SuperSonics point guard Gary Payton seems to be a changed man.

	Payton is off to a good start, and is averaging double-digit assists.

No more rants and raves against management, threatening to beat them up. No more uncontrolled tirades against teammates when they drop a pass or miss a jumper. No more petty jealousies or sitting out practices.

Gary Payton has indeed changed, and the world is a nicer place.

Now, I say this all with the caveat that it could revert to the old ways at any time, because GP is still the fiery competitor he always has been, and he is on a team that, while exciting, is really not that good.

But give the guy credit, he is making an effort at being a leader, at doing what is asked of him, of doing the things that, had he done them five years ago in his career, who knows where he, and by extension the Sonics, could have been.

The genesis of GP becoming PG rather than R is this: Amid a trillion and one trade rumors this summer, Sonics coach Nate McMillan figured that in the event GP was not traded, McMillan was going to have to both make it a comfortable situation for both sides, but lay down his ground rules about trying to develop a young team.

"I was up-front with him," McMillan said. "I told him it was time for a change. If things didn't get better, as far as communication with the organization, with teammates, with the media, will the team trade him? Yes."

McMillan said he pulled out the early part of Payton's career as an example, when Dale Ellis and Xavier McDaniel were the Sonics' best players. They stepped aside some to allow Payton and Shawn Kemp to develop, and that was what Payton was going to have to do for Rashard Lewis and Desmond Mason and Vladimir Radmanovic.

So far, so good. Payton has participated in every practice. And when he practices, he goes all out, as he does in games, setting an example for all the new players on the team.

Believe it or not, Payton even speaks to the media these days, something about which Hersey Hawkins and Detlef Schrempf and Sam Perkins begrudged him because they were left to answer for the team's mistakes. In a loss to Sacramento in the season opener this year, Payton actually took the blame for the loss, something he never has done.

Payton even lifted weights seriously this past summer for the first time, bulking up. He used to play at 180. He came into camp around 198, all muscle. Now, he is down to 190, and that's where he wants to stay.

"I got some injuries last year that I wasn't supposed to have," said Payton, referring to a groin injury that hampered him for several months. "I really thought about it when that happened. I am getting older. I think it's just like Michael Jordan. He wants to stay in shape and get a few more pounds to stay healthy. Getting a little bigger and getting a little stronger will help me a lot. Going to the bucket, it will prevent more injuries.

"I don't feel no different. Keeping the pounds off my stomach, keeping the pounds off my body, and keeping my upper body big, I think it will help me a lot. If you keep yourself in peak condition, I don't think my game will ever leave me."

The result of Payton's makeover has been surprisingly successful. Essentially, he has learned to trust his teammates, and while they have begun the season 2-4, they have played well, for the most part. (They still have no low-post presence, and that is likely going to keep them from the playoffs.) While maintaining his scoring average, 22.2 points a game, Payton's assists have gone up significantly. His highest career assists average is 8.9. He currently is second in the league, at 10.2 assists a game, behind only John Stockton.

What Payton does is pass to Lewis and Mason and Brent Barry for three quarters, then when the game is on the line, McMillan calls Payton's number. In a double-overtime victory over Orlando last week, Payton scored 13 points in the extra periods, outdueling Tracy McGrady.

"Nate is calling my plays," Payton said. "He wants me to have the ball at the end. When I get the ball, I got to make stuff happen."

Who knew, all along, that Payton had this in him? Certainly not the Sonics management, or they would have called him on his childish antics much sooner. Apparently it took McMillan, a close friend of Payton's, to tell Payton to show the world what McMillan has seen lots of times before.

After all, when the Sonics retired McMillan's number and hung his jersey in the rafters at KeyArena, it was Payton who gave his future coach a $25,000 rolex watch as congratulations. McMillan still gets weepy talking about it and showing the inscription on the back.

"He had to let down his wall," McMillan said. "He has up this wall. There's an impression of him that he's a tough guy, and he is, but if you get to know him, he's also a good guy and a good friend."

Around The League