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John
Stockton
Selected in the second round out of Gonzaga,
Stockton was just glad to
have a chance to prove himself. Pledging to never hold out for more money and
to stay loyal to the Jazz in honor of their taking a chance, he never let
them down. Holding true to his word, he played all 19 seasons with the Jazz,
refusing many more lucrative offers and even taking less to help the
franchise afford better role players. And did he ever prove himself. The
catch phrase “Stockton-to-Malone” became one of
the most recognized phrases in basketball. For years the duo pick and roller
their way to the post-season, never failing to make it in. His work ethic
only paralleled by Malone and as much heart as anyone in history, Stockton became known
as The Court Marshall.
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- Stockton played 1,504 of 1,526 possible
games in his 19-season career.
- He holds the NBA record for career
assists with 15,806, and for assists per game over one season (14.5 in
1990). Moreover, he 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 1164, 1134, 1128, 1126, 1118, 1031 and 1011
assists. Magic Johnson, another great point guard,
topped out at 989.
- He holds the NBA record for career
steals with 3,265, nearly 20 percent more than the runner-up, Michael
Jordan, who had 2,514. For illustrative purposes, Stockton has 800
more career steals than Gary
Payton (third on the list).
- Stockton never missed the playoffs.
·
Stockton
has one career triple double, which came in a playoff game against
the Dallas Mavericks.
Though only 6'1" in a league of giants, Stockton is considered one of
the NBA's greatest point guards ever. He averaged a career double-double,
with 13.1 points and 10.5 assists per game. As of 2005, he held the
NBA's records for career assists (15,806) and 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 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.
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Stockton was known for his unassuming, no-nonsense approach to
the game, hard-nosed defense, and fanatical work-ethic in preparation.
The legendary coach John Wooden said that John Stockton was the only
player in the NBA that he would pay to watch. Stockton avoided
endorsements, and stayed loyal to Utah despite being offered
significantly more money by other teams. He took a pay-cut to make
salary-cap space so the team could improve; taking ice time for his
son's hockey team instead
Other Stockton Links:
Wikipedia.org
BasketballReference.com:
John Stockton
- John
Stockton
Bball1
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