Due to the Seattle SuperSonics moving to Oklahoma City, Payton has openly expressed his desire not to have his retired jersey number in Oklahoma City as part of that team's history. He wishes instead for it to remain in Seattle, where he enjoyed the majority of his career's success and popularity. This seems likely as the SuperSonics' team name, colors, uniforms and trophies are remaining in Seattle for a possible future team to adopt upon arrival.
Payton is featured in the documentary Sonicsgate, which covers the team's relocation from Seattle to Oklahoma City.
Payton is currently working on bringing the NBA back to Seattle. He also stated when the NBA comes back to Seattle he wants to be part of the team so it won't be relocated again.