Tuesday, October 19, 2021

Top 100 NBA Players: #12 - John Stockton


John Stockton

Teams

Utah Jazz - 1984-03


Playoffs

Appearances - 19 (1985,1986,1987,1988,1989,1990,1991,1992,1993,1994,1995,1996,1997,1998,1999,2000,2001,2002,2003)

Conference Finals - 5 (1992,1994,1996,1997,1998)

NBA Finals - 2 (1997,1998)

Championships - 0


Awards and Honors

All-NBA First Team - 2 (1988,1989,1991,1992,1994,1995,1996,1997)

All-NBA Second Team - 6 (1988,1989,1990,1992,1993,1996)

All-NBA Third Team - 3 (1991,1997,1999,2000,2001,2002)

Hall of Fame - 2009

*(actual in bold, deserved in italics)


All-Time Ranks

Total Assists - #1

Total Steals - #1

Assists Per Game - #2

Steals Per Game - #8

Total Points - #53

Field Goal Percentage - #86


League Leads

Total Assists (#1-1988,1989,1990,1991,1992,1993,1994,1995,1996, #2-1997,2001, #4-2000, #5-2002,2003)

Assists Per Game (#1-1988,1989,1990,1991,1992,1993,1994,1995,1996, #2-1997,2001, #5-1998,2002,2003)

Total Steals (#1-1989,1992, #2-1991, #3-1988,1990,1993, #4-1994,1995)

Steals Per Game (#1-1989,1992, #2-1990,1991, #3-1988,1993, #4-1994,1995)

Field Goal Percentage (#4-1988, #5-2002)

Three-Point Percentage (#2-2001, #5-1995)


As a senior at Gonzaga, John Stockton averaged 20.9 points, 7.2 assists, and 3.9 steals per game, which led the Utah Jazz to select him with the #16 overall pick in the NBA Draft.

Stockton came off the bench in his first 3 seasons, raising all of his statistical averages each year, up to 7.9 points, 8.2 assists, and 2.2 steals per game in 1987. He was named the starting point guard the next season, and he immediately shot to the top of the league, leading all players in assists with 13.8 per game, the second-highest average of all time at that point, while scoring 14.7 points per game and recording 3.0 steals per game, #3 in the league. 

The Jazz made the playoffs in all 19 seasons with Stockton, and this year was no exception, with Utah making it to the second round, where they lost to the Lakers in 7 games, with Stockton averaging 19.3 points, 16.4 assists, and 4.0 steals per game in the series, but they couldn't beat the defending champs, and they wouldn't make a deep playoff run for several more years.

In his second year as a starter, he led the league in both assists and steals, with 13.6 and 3.2 per game respectively, along with 17.1 points per game. Despite that, he still wasn't named to the All-NBA First Team, instead being relegated to the Second Team for the second year in a row.

The next year, he set the all-time record for most assists per game in a season, dishing out 14.5 per game, along with a career high 17.2 points per game and 2.7 steals. He missed 4 games that season, the first time in his career that he sat out a single game.

The next year, he set the all-time record for most total assists in a season, getting 1164 for an average of 14.2 per game, giving him his 4th straight assist title. He also matched his career high with 17.2 points per game that season while taking 2.9 steals per game as well.

Stockton had his best overall season the next year. His averages were slightly down, to 15.8 points, 13.7 assists, and 3.0 steals per game, the latter two of which led the league. He also helped lead the Jazz to the Conference Finals for the first time in their history, but the Portland Trail Blazers stopped their run there, ending their season.

Stockton led the league in assists in each of the next 4 seasons as well, making it 9 years in a row by 1996, breaking Bob Cousy's record of 8 straight seasons leading the league. The team also made their 3rd Conference Final that year, but Seattle beat the Jazz this time, marking the 12th straight year that Stockton had failed to reach the Finals.

That ended the next year, when Stockton lost the assist title for the first time in a decade, averaging only 10.5 per game, but the Jazz finally broke through in the playoffs, beating the Rockets in the Conference Finals after Stockton hit a buzzer-beater over Charles Barkley to win the series. They met the Bulls in the Finals, but were unable to unseat the defending champs, losing in 6 games.

Stockton missed the first 18 games of the next season with a knee injury, only the second time in his career that he had missed any time, and when he came back, the team cut down his playing time a little in order to preserve him, keeping him around 30 minutes per game for the remainder of his career instead of the 35-36 he had usually played before. The Jazz returned to the Finals that year, but lost again in 6 games in a rematch with Chicago.

Stockton played 5 more years with the Jazz, averaging at least 10 points and 7 assists per game each season, and continued as their starting point guard past the age of 40. He finally retired in 2003, after playing 19 seasons, all with Utah, missing only 22 games in his career, and never missing the playoffs.

Stockton is the all-time leader in both steals and assists in NBA history, with Jason Kidd behind him in both categories. He has 581 more steals than Kidd, and is 933 ahead of Chris Paul, the active leader in the category, so he is in no danger of losing his lead. The same applies even more to the assist lead, where he is 3715 ahead of Kidd and 5531 ahead of Paul, who is the active leader.

In addition to those all-time leads, Stockton has the second-highest assist average in history, behind only Magic Johnson, and holds the records for most assists in a season, assist average in a season, and most seasons leading the league. He's also in the top 10 in steals per game for his career, so even though he was never able to win a championship, he's obviously one of the greatest to ever play the game.




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