John Stockton

John Stockton

No. 12
Point guard
Personal information
Date of birth	March 26, 1962 (1962-03-26) (age 48)
Place of birth	Spokane, Washington, USA
Listed height	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Listed weight	170 lb (77 kg)
Career information
College	Gonzaga University
NBA Draft	1984 / Round: 1 / Pick: 16
Selected by the Utah Jazz
Pro career	1984–2003
Career history
Utah Jazz (1984–2003)
Career highlights and awards
10× NBA All-Star (1989–1997, 2000) 2× All-NBA First Team Selection 6× All-NBA Second Team Selection 3× All-NBA Third Team Selection 5× NBA All-Defensive Second Team Selection NBA's 50th Anniversary All-Time Team 2× Bausch and Lomb Court Vision Award Winner 2× Allstate Good Hands Award Winner
Career NBA statistics
Points	19,711
Assists	15,806
Steals	3,265
Info Page
Stats @ Basketball-Reference.com
Basketball Hall of Fame as player

John Houston Stockton (born March 26, 1962) is a retired American professional basketball player (NBA) who spent his entire career (1984–2003) as a point guard for the Utah Jazz of the NBA. Stockton is regarded as one of the best point guards of all time,^[1] holding the NBA records for most career assists and steals by considerable margins.^[2][3] He was enshrined into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2009.

Early years

Stockton was born in Spokane, Washington to Clementine Frei and Jack Stockton.^[4] He attended grade school at St. Aloysius and moved on to high school at Gonzaga Prep, graduating in 1980. He then played college basketball for Gonzaga University in his hometown where he averaged 20.9 points per game while shooting 57% from the field in his senior year. His grandfather, Houston Stockton had also been a well known athlete at Gonzaga. Hust was a member of the Frankford Yellow Jackets, winners of the National Football League championship in 1926.

John Stockton was selected by the Utah Jazz with the 16th pick overall in the 1984 NBA Draft.

NBA career

John Stockton averaged a career double-double, with 13.1 points and 10.5 assists per game. He holds the NBA's record for most career assists (15,806) by a margin of more than 5,000, as well as the record for most career steals (3,265). He had five of the top six assists seasons in NBA history (the other belonging to Isiah Thomas). He holds the NBA record for the most seasons, games, and consecutive games played with one team, and is third in total games played, behind Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Robert Parish. He missed only 22 games during his career, 18 of them in one season. He played in 34 games where he tallied 20 or more assists.

Stockton appeared in 10 All-Star games, and was named co-MVP of the game in 1993 with Jazz teammate Karl Malone, which was held in Salt Lake City, Utah. He played with the 1992 and 1996 US Olympic basketball teams, known as Dream Team I and III, the first Olympic squads to feature NBA players, keeping the game ball from both Gold Medal games. He was selected to the All-NBA First Team twice, the All-NBA Second Team six times, the All-NBA Third Team three times, and the NBA All-Defensive Second Team five times. He was named one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA history in 1996. Stockton's career highlight came in Game 6 of the 1997 Western Conference Finals. Stockton scored the last 9 points for the Jazz, including a buzzer-beating 3-point shot over the Houston Rockets' Charles Barkley, to send the Jazz to the first of its two consecutive NBA Finals appearances. In both of these appearances, Stockton's Jazz teams were defeated by the Chicago Bulls.

For many years, he and Malone were the Jazz's 1-2 punch. The two played a record 1,412 regular-season games together as teammates. Many of Stockton's assists resulted from passes to Malone. Stockton earned the "old school" tag for his physical play (surveys of athletes and fans alike often judged him among the toughest players in the NBA, usually just behind teammate Karl Malone); his uniform "short shorts" (he was the most recent notable NBA player to wear them, preferring the style after the rest of the league had adopted today's baggier look); his simple dress off the court, which contrasted with many of his NBA contemporaries; and his reserved demeanor.

On May 2, 2003, Stockton announced his retirement with a released statement instead of the customary news conference. The Jazz later held a retirement ceremony for him, in which Salt Lake City renamed the street in front of the Energy Solutions Arena (formerly known as the Delta Center), where the Jazz play, John Stockton Drive.^[5] His number-12 jersey was retired by the Jazz during a game on November 22, 2004. A statue of Stockton can be seen in front of the Energy Solutions Arena; an accompanying statue of Karl Malone was placed nearby on March 23, 2006. The Malone and Stockton statues stand on a bronze plaque commemorating their achievements together. Stockton was announced as a member of the 2009 class of inductees to the Basketball Hall of Fame on April 6, 2009; he was formally inducted on September 11.

Along with Patrick Ewing, Charles Barkley, Dominique Wilkins, Elgin Baylor, Reggie Miller, Pete Maravich, and his teammate Karl Malone, John Stockton is considered to be one of the best players never to have won a championship.^[6]

Player profile

Stockton, a 10-time NBA All-Star, commandingly holds the NBA record for career assists with 15,806 (10.5 per game). Stockton also holds the record for assists-per-game average over one season (14.5 in 1990), and is one of three players who have logged more than 1,000 assists in one season, joining Kevin Porter (1,099 in 1979) and Isiah Thomas (1,123 in 1985) in the exclusive list. Stockton did this seven times, with season totals of 1,164, 1,134, 1,128, 1,126, 1,118, 1,031 and 1,011 assists.^[7]

He and Karl Malone are regarded by many as the quintessential pick and roll duo. Apart from his passing skill, Stockton was also a capable scorer (13.1 points per game career average and a .515 career shooting percentage) with a reliable three-point shot (.384 lifetime average). He is 30th on the all-time NBA scoring list with 19,711 career points.^[8] Despite the fact that he never pulled down more than 9 rebounds (or recorded more than 9 steals) during a regular season game, he recorded one career triple double, in a playoff game against the Dallas Mavericks on April 28, 2001. He scored 12 points, pulled down 11 rebounds and had 10 assists.

On defense, Stockton holds the NBA record for career steals with 3,265, nearly 30 percent more than second placed Michael Jordan, who had 2,514.^[9]

Stockton was known for his unassuming, no-nonsense approach to the game, hard-nosed defense, and fanatical work-ethic in preparation, which resulted in his extreme durability. He played 1,504 of 1,526 possible games in his 19-season career. In his first 13 seasons, he missed only four games (all in the 1989-1990 season) until he missed the first 18 games of the 1997-1998 season due to an injured MCL in his left knee sustained in the preseason. That was the only major injury in his career and he never missed another game after returning from that injury. In his last season at age 41, he started in all 82 games, and finished with more-than-respectable averages of 10.8 ppg and 7.7 apg. His 1,504 NBA games played are currently also the most all-time for a career spent with only one team; they are also the most NBA games played without winning an NBA championship.

Stockton avoided endorsements, and stayed loyal to Utah despite being offered significantly more money by other teams. In 1996 he agreed to a deal that made salary-cap space available so the team could improve, but insisted on guaranteed Delta Center ice time for his son's hockey team.^[10]

On May 11, 2006, ESPN.com named Stockton the 4th best point guard of all time.^[11]

Personal life

Stockton and his wife, the former Nada Stepovich (daughter of Matilda and Michael Anthony Stepovich, the penultimate territorial governor of Alaska), have two daughters, Lindsay and Laura, and four sons, Houston, Michael, David and Samuel. Stockton and his family are devout Catholics.

See also

• List of National Basketball Association players with 1000 games played
• List of National Basketball Association career scoring leaders
• List of National Basketball Association career assists leaders
• List of National Basketball Association career steals leaders
• List of National Basketball Association players with 22 or more assists in a game
• List of National Basketball Association players with 9 or more steals in a game

Footnotes

External links

• NBA History
• NBA.com Profile
• Basketball-Reference.com: John Stockton
• John Stockton

1992 Olympic Champions Men's Basketball team - United States 4 Laettner | 5 Robinson | 6 Ewing | 7 Bird | 8 Pippen | 9 Jordan | 10 Drexler | 11 Malone | 12 Stockton | 13 Mullin | 14 Barkley | 15 Johnson Head coach: Daly Assistant coaches: Krzyzewski | Wilkens | Carlesimo

1996 Olympic Champions Men's Basketball – United States 4 Barkley | 5 Hill | 6 Hardaway | 7 Robinson | 8 Pippen | 9 Richmond | 10 Miller | 11 Malone | 12 Stockton | 13 O'Neal | 14 Payton | 15 Olajuwon Coach: Wilkens