John Houston Stockton (born March 26, 1962) is a former NBA player. He played his entire career (1984-2003) with the Utah Jazz.

Stockton was born and raised in Spokane, Washington and played college basketball for Gonzaga University in his hometown. He was selected by the Jazz in the first round (16th pick overall) of the 1984 Draft.

As of 2004 he holds the NBA's All-Time career records for Assists (15,806) and Steals (3,265). Though only 6'1" in a league of giants, Stockton is considered one of the greatest players ever to play the position of point guard in the history of basketball.

For many years, he and Karl Malone were the Jazz's 1-2 punch. Both were members of the Dream Team, the legendary 1992 US Olympic team that was the first to feature NBA players. Stockton holds the record for assists, most of which were passed to Malone. In Salt Lake City this is commemorated by a car dealership with the name Stockton to Malone Honda. Since the owner of the Jazz, Larry Miller, owns several car dealerships, one could assume the creation of this dealership was part of their package for playing for the Jazz.

He and his wife, the former Nada Stepovich, have two daughters, Lindsay and Laura, and four sons, Houston, Michael, David and Samuel.

Stockton chose to announce his retirement with a released statement instead of the customary news conference. The Jazz, however, did hold a retirement ceremony for him. During the retirement ceremony, the city of Salt Lake renamed the street in front of the Delta Center, where the Jazz play, "John Stockton Drive" in honor of his achievements.

Stockton also coached the basketball team of PAOK, Thessaloniki for a short period of time after his retirement as a player. His number #12 was retired by the Utah Jazz during a game on November 22, 2004.

He also holds the NBA record for the most seasons and the most consecutive games played with one team, and is also second in the number of total games played behind Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Over the course of his career he only missed 22 games, 18 of them in one season. He appeared in 10 All-Star games, being named co-MVP in 1993 along with Karl Malone, and also played with the 1992 and 1996 Dream Teams. Over the course of his career he averaged a double-double, with 13.1 points and 10.5 assists per game. He was selected to the NBA First Team twice, Second Team six times, and Third Team three times, and the All-Defensive Second Team five times. He was also named one of the 50 greatest players in NBA history in 1996.

External link

• BasketballReference.com: John Stockton