John Stockton - Player Profile

Player Profile

Stockton, a 10-time NBA All-Star, commandingly holds the NBA record for career assists with 15,806 (10.5 per game). Stockton also holds the record for assists-per-game average over one season (14.5 in 1990) and 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 1,164, 1,134, 1,128, 1,126, 1,118, 1,031 and 1,011 assists.

He and Karl Malone are regarded by many as the quintessential pick and roll duo. Apart from his passing skill, Stockton was also a capable scorer (13.1 points per game career average and a 51.5 career shooting percentage) with a reliable three-point shot (38.4% lifetime average). He is 30th on the all-time NBA scoring list with 19,711 career points. Despite the fact that he had never pulled down more than 9 rebounds (or recorded more than 9 steals) during a regular season game, he finally recorded a career triple double, at age 39, in a playoff game against the Dallas Mavericks on April 28, 2001. He scored 12 points, pulled down 11 rebounds and had 10 assists.

On defense, Stockton holds the NBA record for career steals with 3,265, nearly 30 percent more than second placed Jason Kidd, who is currently active.

Stockton was known for his unassuming, no-nonsense approach to the game, hard-nosed defense, and fanatical work-ethic in preparation, which resulted in his extreme durability. He played 1,504 of 1,526 possible games in his 19-season career. In his first 13 seasons, he missed only four games (all in the 1989–90 season) until he missed the first 18 games of the 1997–98 season due to an injured MCL in his left knee sustained in the preseason. That was the only major injury in his career, and he never missed another game after returning from that injury. In his last season at age 41, he started all 82 games, and finished with more-than-respectable averages of 10.8 ppg and 7.7 apg. Stockton's tenacity also earned him a reputation among some in the league as being a dirty player, as evidenced by a poll Sports Illustrated conducted in 1997 where he was voted as the second dirtiest player in the league behind Dennis Rodman.

Stockton avoided most endorsements, and he stayed loyal to Utah despite being offered significantly more money by other teams. In 1996, he agreed to a deal that made salary-cap space available so the team could improve, but in exchange, he insisted on guaranteed Delta Center ice time for his son's hockey team.

On May 11, 2006, ESPN.com named Stockton the 4th best point guard of all time.

In 1,504 NBA games (the all-time record for a player who played for only one team and games with a single team), of which Stockton started 1,300 (third all-time since starts became an official statistic beginning with the 1981–82 season), Stockton averaged a double-double in points and assists along with 2.2 steals and 31:45 of floor time per game, and he holds other scoring accuracy records as noted above.