Watched and followed Stock’s entire NBA career. A true master of his craft. Stockton’s gameplay was point guard in its purest form imo.
Chris Webber, Gary Payton, Jason Kidd, Jerry West, Wilt Chamberlain, Magic Johnson.. this is just a short list of a few other all time greats I can think of off the top of my head that complimented his gameplay in many different ways. Kidd, West and Chamberlain even went so far as to say they’d put him on their all time team if they had create an all time NBA roster.
Just to put his career into some sorta perspective.. Steve Nash won two MVP’s in 05’ & 06’ I believe it was. (remind you I’m not saying Nash didn’t deserve the awards btw just stating stat facts) but the stats Nash put up those two MVP seasons Stockton had similar stats if not better stats for an entire DECADE straight in the 90’s.
Yes, Nash prob made a bigger difference for his teams as well as changed the way others played which earned him his MVP’s but I’m just talking stat wise comparing Stockton to an MVP winning player which is one of the few awards Stockton never won.
Stockton was incredibly strong for his size. Had abnormally large hands which helped his handles and helped him to manipulate different passes. He could set some of the hardest picks in the league that would even stop bigs in their tracks. He always kept a stone cold look on his face. ZERO emotion. No trash talk could shake him and no moment was ever too big for Stockton.
He was the one we could always call on to show up and do the damn job. As fans we always felt safe and we always felt good about the play when he had the ball in his hands. We knew we could count on him no matter what the moment called for. A quick pass to the inside or a buzzer beating shot. We could always trust him to make the best decision with the ball in his hands.
He was never the most athletic, the fastest or the strongest on the court but he still gave other teams fits regardless. And he did it EVERY SINGLE GAME. He didn’t get the sniffles and have to miss 4 games before coming back, he didn’t sprain his ankle and miss a month of games.. hell this man played in the Olympics on the 92’ dream team to win the gold and he did it WITH A BROKEN SHIN BONE.
Yes Stock actually had a fractured leg bone and it’s one of the reasons his minutes weren’t as many as they probably would’ve been otherwise. But he played in the Olympics on a busted leg. He just loved to compete and he loved basketball and his country that much.
And I won’t even begin to explain how he’s one of the greatest shooters to ever play for the Jazz. Otherwise I’ll be here all day if I continue lol. His shooting often gets overlooked bc he was always a pass first guy. But he was incredibly reliable all over the court when shooting the ball. Stockton retired with a TS% of 61%. Putting him in the top 10 all time among retired NBA players in true shooting percentage.
So uh yea. Lol he was OUR GUY for so many years. Reliable af. To all the OG’s in here that remember watching him live we remember just how great he was even if others don’t. And to all our younger fans just fyi if you don’t mind paying for an NBATV account monthly you can watch a bunch of Stocktons old/best games on there if you never got a chance to watch him play.
To anyone who read all of this. Lol thanks for reading.
Another quote:
Baron Davis on his ‘Welcome to the NBA’ moment: “John Stockton embarrassed me, dawg. John Stockton made me feel like ‘Damn, do I know how to play basketball?’ I had never been taken out the game so fast.”
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Watched and followed Stock’s entire NBA career. A true master of his craft. Stockton’s gameplay was point guard in its purest form imo.
Chris Webber, Gary Payton, Jason Kidd, Jerry West, Wilt Chamberlain, Magic Johnson.. this is just a short list of a few other all time greats I can think of off the top of my head that complimented his gameplay in many different ways. Kidd, West and Chamberlain even went so far as to say they’d put him on their all time team if they had create an all time NBA roster.
Just to put his career into some sorta perspective.. Steve Nash won two MVP’s in 05’ & 06’ I believe it was. (remind you I’m not saying Nash didn’t deserve the awards btw just stating stat facts) but the stats Nash put up those two MVP seasons Stockton had similar stats if not better stats for an entire DECADE straight in the 90’s.
Yes, Nash prob made a bigger difference for his teams as well as changed the way others played which earned him his MVP’s but I’m just talking stat wise comparing Stockton to an MVP winning player which is one of the few awards Stockton never won.
Stockton was incredibly strong for his size. Had abnormally large hands which helped his handles and helped him to manipulate different passes. He could set some of the hardest picks in the league that would even stop bigs in their tracks. He always kept a stone cold look on his face. ZERO emotion. No trash talk could shake him and no moment was ever too big for Stockton.
He was the one we could always call on to show up and do the damn job. As fans we always felt safe and we always felt good about the play when he had the ball in his hands. We knew we could count on him no matter what the moment called for. A quick pass to the inside or a buzzer beating shot. We could always trust him to make the best decision with the ball in his hands.
He was never the most athletic, the fastest or the strongest on the court but he still gave other teams fits regardless. And he did it EVERY SINGLE GAME. He didn’t get the sniffles and have to miss 4 games before coming back, he didn’t sprain his ankle and miss a month of games.. hell this man played in the Olympics on the 92’ dream team to win the gold and he did it WITH A BROKEN SHIN BONE.
Yes Stock actually had a fractured leg bone and it’s one of the reasons his minutes weren’t as many as they probably would’ve been otherwise. But he played in the Olympics on a busted leg. He just loved to compete and he loved basketball and his country that much.
And I won’t even begin to explain how he’s one of the greatest shooters to ever play for the Jazz. Otherwise I’ll be here all day if I continue lol. His shooting often gets overlooked bc he was always a pass first guy. But he was incredibly reliable all over the court when shooting the ball. Stockton retired with a TS% of 61%. Putting him in the top 10 all time among retired NBA players in true shooting percentage.
So uh yea. Lol he was OUR GUY for so many years. Reliable af. To all the OG’s in here that remember watching him live we remember just how great he was even if others don’t. And to all our younger fans just fyi if you don’t mind paying for an NBATV account monthly you can watch a bunch of Stocktons old/best games on there if you never got a chance to watch him play.
To anyone who read all of this. Lol thanks for reading.
Another quote:
Baron Davis on his ‘Welcome to the NBA’ moment: “John Stockton embarrassed me, dawg. John Stockton made me feel like ‘Damn, do I know how to play basketball?’ I had never been taken out the game so fast.”