John Stockton

John Houston Stockton (born March 26, 1962) is an American former professional basketball player. Regarded as one of the greatest point guards of all time, he spent his entire NBA career (1984–2003) with the Utah Jazz. The team made the playoffs in each of his 19 seasons. In 1997 and again in 1998, Stockton and his longtime teammate Karl Malone led the Jazz to the NBA Finals; each time, the team was defeated in six games by the Chicago Bulls.

Stockton was a ten-time NBA All-Star and holds the NBA records for most career assists and steals by wide margins. He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2009 as an individual, and again in 2010 as a member of the 1992 United States Olympic basketball team. In 1996, he was named one of the 50 greatest players in NBA history. In October 2021, Stockton was again honored as one of the league's greatest players of all time by being named to the NBA 75th Anniversary Team.

Stockton was born and raised in Spokane, Washington to Clementine (née Frei) 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.

After considering offers from Don Monson at Idaho and Mike Montgomery at Montana (both in the Big Sky Conference), Stockton decided to stay in Spokane and play college basketball for Dan Fitzgerald at Gonzaga University. He became the third generation in his family at GU; grandfather Houston Stockton was a well-known football player for the Bulldogs in the 1920s. Fitzgerald was also the athletic director; he stepped away from coaching for four years after Stockton's freshman year and promoted assistant Jay Hillock to head coach.

During his senior year for the Bulldogs 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. For his performance, 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.

In June 1984, Stockton was selected by the Utah Jazz in the first round of the 1984 NBA draft as the 16th overall pick. Though he was relatively unknown during his college career, his stock rose significantly in the months before the NBA draft. Nevertheless, the announcement of his selection to the thousands of Jazz fans gathered at the Salt Palace on draft day was met with a stunned silence. On November 10, 1984, Stockton had his highest scoring game as a rookie, with 19 points in only 19 minutes of playing time, during a loss against the Denver Nuggets.

Stockton 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). Stockton also led the league in steals per game in 1991-92.