But is he really? Because there is a flip side to the coin…Stockton was only twice in his 19 seasons voted onto the All NBA 1st team, and both of those came in the early ‘90s after Magic had retired but before Gary Payton and Jason Kidd came of age. Stockton never came within shouting distance of winning an MVP, checking in at where he doesn’t even crack the top-10 among point guards despite the fact that MVP shares are cumulative and Stockton played many more seasons than most of the guys ahead of him on the list. 

There absolutely is no way that you can base John Stockton’s career on MVP voting, in fact, looking at it just a little bit shows how completely flawed the MVP vote is.  Consider one of Stockton’s better statistical years when he averaged 17.2 points, 14.2 assists, 2.9 steals and shot 50.7% in the 1990-91 season yet finished 12th in MVP voting.  As a comparison, Steve Nash had weaker numbers across the board during his first MVP season of 2004-05 averaging 15.5 points, 11.5 assists, 1.0 steals while shooting 50.2%.  

Or, consider the 1996-97 and 1997-98 seasons when the Utah Jazz finished with the best record in the Western Conference (best record in NBA in 1997-98) and earned trips to the NBA finals to play Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls. Stockton somehow finished 15th (1996-97) and 13th (1997-98) in MVP voting in those seasons.  This goes to show you that you cannot take MVP Award Share worth a grain of salt. Stockton did not play in a big market, did not make many commercials, did not lobby for himself, was not a highlight reel, etc. and therefore his MVP status always suffered despite his play on the court where it should matter.

And then, there is the qualitative argument: if Stockton is really the best point guard in history, and Karl Malone was arguably the best power forward in history when he played, then how on earth could two “greatest evers” at their positions play together on the same team for 18 years and not win at least one title? I know there were outstanding teams during that period, but if you put two position GOATS together for almost two decades and they really are the best, it’s almost inconceivable that they don’t win at least once by accident. 

This has been talked about over and over again so I will not talk about it much here.  Obviously having no championships is a ding to the resume of John Stockton but for most that watched him play on a regular basis, this is a footnote.

Stockton was very good with almost inhuman consistency…he never missed the playoffs in 19 seasons, he played all 82 games in 17 of 19 seasons, and he was always one of the better players in the league. But he was never the best, neither himself as an individual nor his team. So if you want to base your “best” on career accomplishments that may never be duplicated, then Stockton may be the one for you. But if you tell me to pick one point guard to lead my team to the Promised Land in any one season, give me Magic or Oscar or Isiah or even Chris Paul and I feel more confident than I do if you give me Stockton. And to me, that means that Stockton can’t be my greatest PG of all-time. What do you think?

The fact that Chris Paul was even mentioned in this article makes my stomach turn a little bit and shows how under-appreciated John Stockton really was.  I don’t really think that this argument of greatest point guard of all-time should be made on who you would take for one-season but John Stockton has to be there at the top, along with Magic Johnson.  The basis of Snellings’ argument is that Stockton’s longevity is what allowed him to rack of such gaudy assist and steal numbers. But Stockton’s individual seasons were amazing too, he has seven of the nine all-time 1,000 assist seasons including the top four.  John Stockton also has 4 of the all-time top 15 steals seasons, by comparison Michael Jordan has three, and Gary “the Glove” Payton has zero. 

So who would I want to point-guard my team for one season.  That really comes down to who the other players on the team are to decide whether I take Magic Johnson or John Stockton. 

One thing has become clear to me though, John Stockton may be the most under-rated, under-appreciated all-time great in the modern era.

They enter the basketball Hall of Fame with Michael Jordan, David Robinson and Rutgers women’s coach C. Vivian Stringer in what may be the greatest Hall of Fame class ever.

Obviously, there was never any doubt that John Stockton was a first-ballot Hall of Famer.  Jerry Sloan’s status was a bit more undecided but it was no surprise to learn of his upcoming induction. Stockton was in Detroit during the NCAA championship game when the official announcement was made. Jerry Sloan did not make the trip to Detroit as he continues to mourn the death of his brother and prepares the Jazz for their final five games.

As a John Stockton fan, I have witnessed many of his greatest moments in person including when he broke Magic Johnson’s assist record, when he broke the steals record, when his number was retired, game four of the 1997 NBA Finals against the Bulls (Stockton’s long pass to Malone), many games winners, etc. I still get chills every time I see his game-winner against the Houston Rockets, probably the greatest single moment in Utah Jazz history.

Of course, the NBA championship eluded John Stockton, Jerry Sloan and the Utah Jazz.  They are one of a handful of teams in the modern era that competed at a championship level for at least five straight season without winning the title: 

Utah Jazz (1991-2003)
Playing during the Chicago Bulls era of titles is not exactly an excuse. Just ask the Houston Rockets. Most teams on this list do not have nearly as long a window, as the key group of players were not with the team for as long as in Utah’s case.  From 1984 to 2003, the Jazz made the playoffs each season, but reached the Finals just twice. Some may argue that the true window to win a title began when Jerry Sloan took over as head coach during the 1988-89 season, and while Karl Malone and John Stockton had been paired up since the 1985-86 season, the Jazz did not make it to the Western Conference Finals until 1992. That’s when they became title contenders.  As we all know, Stockton’s career consisted of dishing out over 15,800 assists, which is over 5,000 assists more than Mark Jackson, who is 2nd on the NBA’s all-time assists list.  Karl Malone, meanwhile, went on to finish 2nd on the NBA’s all-time scoring list.  To have that kind of talent for so long and not come away with a title is almost unimaginable, if not crushing to a franchise.  The window came to an abrupt close in 2003, when Stockton retired and Malone went to the Lakers in a last-ditch effort to win a title. The ultimate kicker?  Between 1991 and 2003, Utah’s 632 wins were the most in the NBA. 

Source: A.B.C. Teams: All But the Championship [Truehoop]

I disagree that the Jazz run began in 1991, it really began during the 1988 NBA Playoffs when the Jazz took Magic Johnson and the Lakers to a seventh game in the Western Conference Semi-Finals.  That series put Stockton, Malone and the Jazz on the map. 

Once again, congratulations to John Stockton and Jerry Sloan!