Bryant share the record for most career NBA All-Defensive First Team selections, with nine. He is currently fifth all-time in career steals. A strong all-around player, Payton also ranks fifth all-time among guards in defensive rebounds though not alone, 12th in offensive rebounds, and 10th in total rebounds for a guard. Among players considered point guards, Payton ranks 3rd in defensive rebounds, 5th in offensive rebounds, and 4th in total rebounds, behind Jason Kidd, Oscar Robertson, and Magic Johnson. Statistical analysis shows similar players to Payton include Alvin Robertson and Michael Cooper. Payton vs. Jordan Payton is also considered one of the best defensive opponents of Michael Jordan, and the two players had a high-profile rivalry that culminated in the 1996 NBA Finals. Jordan and Payton have both won the NBA Defensive Player of the Year award and despite their different positions (shooting guard and point guard respectively), they were well matched for other reasons. Both were prodigious "trash talkers" (Larry Johnson once named Payton, Jordan and himself the best three trash talkers in the league), had legendary competitiveness, and as the 1997 NBA Preview magazine stated, "Payton [was] quick, and strong as an ox", making him the kind of player who could frustrate Jordan defensively. Payton, at and with a tough physique, was one of a handful of point guards with the size and body type to guard Jordan. Midway through the 1996 NBA Finals, Seattle coach George Karl decided to assign Payton to play defense as a shooting guard instead of his normal point guard assignment in order to defend Jordan. Though the Bulls won the series, Seattle's (and especially Payton's) defense held Jordan and the Bulls to their lowest offensive output in an NBA finals and "frustrated the best player in the game." In his first three NBA Finals, Jordan averaged 36.3 points per game and had scored at least 30 points in 14 of his 17 games. However, in the 1996 Finals, Jordan averaged 27.3 points per game and scored more than 30 points in only one of the six games. In a Game 5 preview after Payton had held Jordan to a career NBA Finals low of 23, an NBA pregame show described the rivalry of two strong defensive players renowned for their competitiveness. "[In Game 4, Jordan had his] lowest output in a Finals game, much of it with Payton guarding him. Though afterwards,