Gary Payton and Josh Kesselman Want People To 'Enjoy Being Natural' With New Rolling Papers

Gary Payton once watched cannabis bring his dying mother back to feeling like herself — a memory that now sits behind the NBA legend's latest business venture.

The Hall of Famer, forever known as 'The Glove', has teamed up with Josh Kesselman — dubbed the 'Willy Wonka of weed' — to launch Gary Payton RAW Rolling Papers, a product built not around getting high, but around the relief cannabis once gave his mother in her final days. 'We want people to enjoy being natural,' Payton says.

Kesselman is a fitting partner, known for creations such as the Tuberator, a flute that holds seven joints at once. Wild innovation is in his DNA.

Payton and Kesselman stress the product is health-related, focused on medicinal marijuana as a natural alternative for people dealing with health issues — not smoking for its own sake. Payton, a non-smoker himself, is aware of the misconceptions, but points to his late mother to explain his motivation.

'It's not about smoking cannabis. It's about medical stuff. My mother was dying from cancer, and when we got into medical stuff, cannabis and stuff like that. I gave it to her. It brought her back to being a normal person before she passed away,' Payton shared in an exclusive interview.

That experience pushed him toward promoting healthy living through natural means, as an alternative to medication that can carry its own side effects.

'You don't want everybody taking medication all the time and messing up their body, natural stuff can help. We can have rubs that can make people feel better to get up and start golfing, get up and start walking. It's not just about smoking marijuana. It's about us being helping other people,' the nine-time All-Star clarified.

Finding Common Ground With Kesselman

The pair met at a convention, and their conversation eventually led to the concept of the rolling paper. Given Payton's basketball background, the idea of a paper with a basketball feel soon took shape.

Josh said the concept came to him while brainstorming with a friend on how to make the paper stand out. Suddenly, his colleague suggested: 'What if it felt like a basketball?'

'That's when it was like, "Oh my God, that's what it is!" What we have to do (...) you're trying to come up with that feeling, or else it's just a pack of paper. How do you make it feel like Gary Payton?' Kesselman recalled.

Making it happen required a special printer capable of a rubberised texture. Kesselman admitted it took a while, with frustrating moments, but they eventually figured it out.

'It's an organic hemp rolling paper. It's a really, really good gum made from organic acacia. It's a really good rolling paper,' Josh explained.

A Collector's Item For Hoop Junkies

Payton pointed out the product itself is something fans will want to own. The papers bear his logo and are authentically signed — a collector's item, in his view, no different to a signed jersey or card.

'This is something that people want to have as a collector's item. When you come out and get jerseys and you get cards signed. Why they, why not? They have our papers signed. Yeah, we did that. It's the same thing,' Payton explained.

For a man who once watched cannabis ease his own mother's final days, the mission remains personal. Both he and Kesselman say it's the reaction from people using the product — not the fame either of them already has — that keeps them pushing to expand the line.

'We want to see people smiling (...) We're not worried about a product, we're worried about these people who get this product and be that having a smile on their face and want to use these products like that. That's what we're worried about. We're not worried about nothing else. Me and Josh got a lot of fame, we good, but we try to make people have smiles on their face as well,' Payton stated.