Ranking the 75 best players in NBA history for 75th anniversary

Ranking the 75 best players in NBA history: No. 32 – John Stockton

On NBA 50 at 50 List

Career: 1984 – 2003

Achievements: All-NBA (11x); All-Star (10x); All-Defense (5x); Nine-time leader in assists; two-time leader in steals; first in career assists and career steals

One way to look at John Stockton’s career is by volume, and along those lines, he is too far down this list. He not only is the career assists leader but by an unfathomable amount, 3,715 more than second-place Jason Kidd. He is likewise first in career steals, the consummate point guard racking up classic point guard stats to a staggering degree.

The reason Stockton amassed so many assists and steals is by never missing time throughout his career. He played every available game in a whopping 17 seasons, missing 22 games total over his entire career. He led the league in assists per game in nine straight seasons from 1988 to 1996. He was like clockwork, the inevitable point guard running a well-oiled offense to perfection.

Stockton’s partner for nearly his entire career was, of course, Karl Malone. The two played together for 18 seasons, forming one of the most beautiful pairings in basketball history. Together with head coach Jerry Sloan, they never led the Jazz to a title, but they came very close in 1997 and 1998. Stockton and Malone could never quite find that extra gear, the way to rise above their standard excellence to become something more, something good enough to beat the greats in the postseason. That’s what holds back their historical resume, and holds Stockton back to No. 32 on our list.