John Stockton is a legend. He holds the records for most career assists (15,806) AND steals (3,265) and he averaged a double double over his career (13.1 points, 10.5 assists). Drafted by the Utah Jazz with the 16th pick in the ’84 draft, Stockton spent his entire career in Utah before retiring in 2003. He and Karl Malone are one of the most dominant tandems in NBA history and they ran the pick and roll better than anyone ever has. Stockton was named one of the 50 greatest players in NBA history, was a 10x All Star, and part of the original Dream Team that smoked the competition in the 1992 Olympics. Stockton only missed 22 games in his entire career and 18 of them were in one season. Like many greats of his generation (Ewing, Malone, Barkley, Miller, Wilkins etc…), Stockton never won a championship. The Jazz fell victim to the Bulls in both the ’97 and ’98 Finals. Stock may have not looked the part but damn was he good.
-Schneezy
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Ps I heart John Stockton lots and lots and lots.
@Hursty Its not questionable atal, I think there is a very very solid argument for top 3.
Glad you remembered Payton too though
In 4:26 of highlight footage he didn’t go between his legs or around his back once!
I respect folks who believe he’s better than Isiah, it’s a legit opinion. But “definitely” is ridiculous.
Isiah carried a team as a scorer early in his career, then converted to more of a point guard and managed to win two rings in the uber tough East despite never playing with anyone as good as Karl Malone. Now, overall talent on the Pistons might have been better than the Jazz, but Isiah also had to go through the Celtics and hold off the Bulls and Knicks to stay on top.
Isiah was better in my opinion, but even if you believe he wasn’t, it was pretty freaking close.
Oscar, Magic, Kareem, Isiah, Stockton, Frazier, Payton, Kidd, Tiny, are my top nine in that order.
Stockton. Overated.
These two words do not belong in the same sentence, not at all.
Just watch this video of how ‘famous’ John was. It is shot in Barcelona, during the ’92 Olympics. One classic piece of video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CEmacNvCj4A
Isiah wasn’t left off the Dream Team because he was part of the Bad Boys. He was left off because he was a two-faced prick (perceived), and Magic & Mike didn’t want him around.
Period.
Arguably the greatest player, too. In my opinion, he is.
@Krishan:
Kareem is arguably The G.O.A.T.
And co-sign BossTerry: Great choice for today, these FOTS’s just get better and better.
Explain the “better point” logic for Isiah versus Stockton, in your opinion.
I don’t see it. I agree with you that if you were teaching the average kid who to watch to become a point, like a blueprint, it would be Stockton. But, Isiah could do everything Stockton could do, and he could do a little more. As a point guard. I think he’s a better overall player, and better at the position.
But, I can put Earl Monroe, kevin Johnson, and tiny archibald over him with no qualms.
If we had a game of NBA All-History, I’d draft Stockton as my starting PG. I don’t know if that would make him the greatest, but I’d take him over any other in that context.
I believe that longevity is important, but I also believe that in sports, injuries can rob even the greatest of time to expand on their legacy. Isiah had the unfortunate luck to get injured in a time where medicine was primitive and teams kind of cast their players on the scrap heap.
I think that Isiah wasn’t just a “better” scorer than Stockton. He was in a different league from Stockton when it came to scoring. He had the ability to be the dominant scorer on a team and have that team still be competitive even with inferior parts, like he did the year they lost to Bernard King in the playoffs and Isiah just went off.
Stockton was an amazing point guard who dictated pace and tempo like you said. And I believe that he was Isiah’s superior as a pure passer. But, I think the gap was small, while I think the gap between Stockton and Isiah as dominant scorers was massive. Moreove, I think Isiah also controlled pace, and was most impressive as Dumars came into his own, and Isiah ceded his place as the team’s dominant scorer to increase his assists and make sure Dumars, and Aguirre got their shots. I just think Isiah, at his best, was better than Stockton at his best and while Stockton was competitive for six more years, he never reached the level Isiah attained.
But, I understand your reasoning.
> an offense that definitely is point guard friendly and
> predicated on passing to cutters and shooters.
Pretty sure Jerry Sloan didn’t create the pick and roll. Also, I think if Chuck Daly and Sloan swapped jobs in the nineties the Jazz would have had more rings than the Pistons.
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