Gary Won't Come

The Press Enterprise: Payton, 36, remains the property of Boston. In a phone interview Friday, Payton said he would retire before reporting to Boston.

"I wasn't going to Boston to take a physical," he said. "I ain't going to move my family no more. I can't take my family to Boston. It ain't no disrespect to Boston."

Payton said he'd prefer to play for Houston, Minnesota or the Clippers.

Payton is due to earn $5.4 million in the last year of his contract. If he doesn't report and isn't traded again, Payton would not get paid.

"I don't care about that," Payton said. "If it goes down, I'll quit. I can go on and do something else."

Payton said had he known the Lakers were going to trade him, he wouldn't have exercised his contract option for next season.

"They used me to sign so they could get other players," Payton said. "Boston is going to lose out on this. They ain't going to get (nothing). It's about respect. They (the Lakers) didn't respect me. Why should I respect them?"