SEATTLE -- It would be easy to chastise Seattle SuperSonics point guard Gary Payton as a selfish, immature egoist characteristic of today's NBA player.

	Payton's game remains solid, but it's the attitude that might force a deal.

But, really, even though most of his teammates don't like him, how can you blame Payton?

The first lesson in Parenting 101 is that children need, hell, they crave, discipline and consistency, something in their lives that says you can do this and you can't do this.

For some reason, the Sonics have never provided their most special child with those guidelines and parameters of conduct, and the result has been a long string of embarrassing, churlish behavior that ended, finally, with Payton receiving a minimum of a one-game suspension for Friday night's game against the Minnesota Timberwolves.

The suspension -- for a heated argument with Ruben Patterson during a loss to Phoenix Wednesday night and then getting into a verbal confrontation with coach Nate McMillan in the locker room in front of the team following the game -- will end Payton's league-high consecutive games played streak at 356. It also will serve as proof of just how out of control the Sonics have allowed Payton to become.

McMillan, after all, replaced Paul Westphal because of his relationship with Payton, because he supposedly commanded the respect from Payton that Westphal obviously could not, because he was a former teammate of Payton's who, both men say, served as a mentor to Payton as he was coming up.

So much for family ties.

It is an indication that Payton respects, essentially, no one when it comes to governing his conduct.

But why should he? When he told Westphal to "shut up" and that "I'll slap you" earlier this season, he got off with an apology, exposing the organization as a weak-kneed bunch.

When he and Vernon Maxwell got into a fight last season, injuring Horace Grant with a weight, it was readily dismissed as "Gary being Gary." When he and George Karl would scream at each other hysterically during their run of success in the mid-90s, it was because Gary was "competitive."

You can't blame Gary now. You have to blame the organization for allowing him his excess in the past.

	“	He better hope he doesn't die, because nobody on this team would be going to that funeral. ”
		— Unnamed Sonic about Payton

And it may be the organization's fault that, ultimately, they may have to trade him, the best player ever to wear a Sonics uniform.

What Wednesday's incident with Patterson revealed was the Sonics' dirty little secret that their best player doesn't get along with his teammates. Vin Baker and David Wingate are the only players that are truly Payton's friends -- the reason, in fact, that Wingate, on the injured list all season, has a contract with Seattle this year.

In a brutally honest yet divulging statement, one Sonics player said last season: "He better hope he doesn't die, because nobody on this team would be going to that funeral."

Harsh.

In fact, McMillan and Payton met for more than two hours after Wednesday's game. In that discussion, McMillan stressed not alienating his teammates on a personal level because after he retires he'd have nobody around.

Part of the feeling is that Payton dominates the basketball on the court so much that nobody else on the team is given an opportunity to succeed. This is especially true when things are going badly for the Sonics, and Payton does not trust his teammates enough, so he tries to win a game by himself.

But there also is a feeling that Payton does not want another player's star to shine more brightly than his -- and this is particularly true as his career winds down. His body is more fragile and, at 32, he cannot do all the things that he used to be able to do on a consistent basis.

	Baker

	Patterson

It is no coincidence that Wednesday's blowup with Patterson happened on national television, where Payton was playing horribly against Jason Kidd, and Patterson dominated the first half with 15 points, then got escorted off the court by Cheryl Miller to do a halftime interview.

In the second half, Patterson got four shots and scored only four more points as he and Payton argued so vehemently on the court at one point that Brent Barry had to call a timeout because a play could not be run.

McMillan would not say that Payton exactly froze out Patterson, but he did admit that bad feelings between teammates naturally leads to selfish play -- i.e. freezing out.

This is not the first time it has happened: Several years ago, I wrote a column detailing how Payton froze out Don MacLean a game after MacLean went for 30 points against the Utah Jazz on national television.

And last season in the playoffs against the Jazz, Shammond Williams scored 23 points in Game 1, after which Payton complained that he was not touching the ball enough. Williams went from starting to coming off the bench.

After the suspension was announced Thursday afternoon, general manager Wally Walker was asked whether Payton needed to be traded.

"Not necessarily," Walker said.

If that is not leaving the door wide open, it certainly is leaving it unlocked during an all-out riot.

Last Thursday, when Howard Schultz's group of investors took over from Barry Ackerley, I asked Schultz what he thought of Payton's past erratic actions: "I don't think it's healthy," Schultz said.

Here's what Walker and the Sonics' new ownership must decide: Does it want to continue on this path with Payton, trying -- so far futilely -- to win a championship on the tail end of his career while his teammates play in his shadow?

Or does it want to trade Payton while it still can get some serious value in return, allowing Rashard Lewis and Patterson and Desmond Mason and Williams to develop?

It is not the worst course if the Sonics choose the latter. They will have money for free agency when Patrick Ewing leaves this summer. And know this, Ewing IS leaving. His stay thus far has been at best uneventful, which is a sad condemnation of a top 50 player.

Conceivably, the Sonics then could get a quality free agent, could get a quality player or players in return for Payton, and still would have a young nucleus that is waiting for Shaq-Kobe to blow up, for Portland to age, for David Robinson to retire and for Chris Webber to leave Sacramento.

What's the worst that could happen?

They'd miss the playoffs?

They're in 10th place now.

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