John Stockton

Lore & Background

Stockton was born and raised in Spokane, Washington to Clementine and Jack Stockton. He attended grade school at St. Aloysius and moved on to high school at Gonzaga Prep and graduated in 1980, after breaking the city record for points scored in a single basketball season. He played college basketball for Dan Fitzgerald at Gonzaga University. During his senior year in 1984, Stockton averaged 20.9 points per game shooting 57% from the field. The Zags posted a 17–11 record, their best in 17 years, and Stockton led the West Coast Athletic Conference in scoring, assists, and steals. He was named WCAC Player of the Year, the first-ever Gonzaga player to earn the award. He was one of 74 college players invited to the spring tryouts for the 1984 U.S. Olympic team coached by Bob Knight. Stockton made the initial cut in April to the final 20, but was one of four released in May (with Charles Barkley, Terry Porter, and Maurice Martin) in the penultimate cut to 16 players. Though not selected, the experience led him to meet his future teammate and friend, Karl Malone.

Reader's Guide

Stockton was selected by the Utah Jazz in the first round of the 1984 NBA draft as the 16th overall pick. He became the starting point guard for the Jazz in the 1987–88 season. That season, despite eventually finishing tenth in MVP voting and being named to the All-NBA Second Team after averaging 14.7 points, 13.8 assists (best in the league), and 3 steals a game, Stockton was not selected to play in the 1988 NBA All-Star Game. In 1988–89, he played in his first All-Star Game; that season he also led the league in steals per game (while once again leading the NBA in assists per game, which he would do for nine consecutive seasons). On January 15, 1991, Stockton scored 20 points and dished out a career-high and franchise-record 28 assists in a 124–102 home win against the San Antonio Spurs. On February 12, Stockton nearly recorded a triple-double after putting up 19 points, 11 assists, and 9 steals in a 113–92 win over the Houston Rockets. In 1992, Stockton and the Jazz reached the Western Conference Finals for the first time; however, they were defeated by the Portland Trail Blazers in six games. Along with Malone, Stockton was named co-MVP of the All-Star Game in 1993. During the 1994–95 season, Stockton passed Magic Johnson as the NBA's all-time leader in assists on February 1, 1995. He became the first-ever player to have dished out 10,000 assists on February 18, 1995. On March 25, 1995, he became just the second player in NBA history to have recorded 2,000 steals. He was named to the All-NBA first team for the 1995-96 season. The Jazz reached the Conference Finals again in 1994 and 1996, but lost to the Houston Rockets and the Seattle SuperSonics, respectively. In the 1996–97 season, Utah set a franchise record and led the Western Conference with 64 wins. In Game Six of the Conference Finals, Stockton made a buzzer-beating, game-winning three-point shot over the Rockets' Charles Barkley to send the Jazz to the first of two consecutive NBA Finals appearances. The Jazz were defeated by the Chicago Bulls in six games in the 1997 Finals. Stockton missed the first 18 games of the 1997–98 season with a knee injury, but the Jazz returned to the NBA Finals and again faced the Bulls. In Game 6 of the 1998 NBA Finals, Stockton made a three-pointer with 41.9 seconds left to give the Jazz a lead, but Michael Jordan made two field goals to put his team ahead 87–86.

Did You Know?

• Stockton missed only 22 games in his 19-season career and played every game of 17 seasons.
• He was voted as the second dirtiest player in the league in a 1997 Sports Illustrated poll, behind Dennis Rodman.