At 59, Payne can still play -- and still dunk

James Payne won his age group during the dunk contest at the Buffalo Masters Basketball Tournament early this year. Payne is 59.

And he's not some 6-foot-11-inch guy getting up on his tiptoes to dunk. The man is 6-foot-3, 215 pounds.

And he's not simply a freakish athletic talent. Payne prides himself on playing the game of basketball correctly, which is one of the reasons he was also named to the all-star team at the Buffalo Masters tournament for helping his squad win the 55+ bracket.

Payne plays basketball almost every day. And he routinely outjumps, outhustles, outruns, outscores and outplays men less than half his age during the noontime hoop sessions at his San Francisco YMCA.

"It's competitive, and the ages run between 18 and 63 years old. The Top Gun session is between 12 and 1 o'clock, and then the Misfits, the guys who are slower, come in about 1. But I always like to compete against the best. They call me Old Man and Granddad, but it inspires me to jump, block shots, rebound, shoot my deadly jump shot on them," says Payne, who works an overnight shift with the San Francisco Municipal Railway.

A father of four (and grandfather of four), Payne is dedicated to a regimen of physical fitness, nutrition and mental preparation. "My secret is nutrition," he says.

In addition, Payne works out ever day. He rides a bike two miles to the Y, where he lifts weights and jumps rope. When he found he'd lost a step at 54, and his uncanny leaping ability was diminishing, Payne began taking Tai Chi classes. "My legs were sore at first, but in a few days I was jumping so much higher."