John Stockton

John Houston Stockton was born on March 26, 1962.  Stockton is a retired American professional basketball player who spent his entire career (1984-2003) as a point guard for the Utah Jazz of the National Basketball Association (NBA).  Stockton is regarded as one of the best point guards of all time, holding the NBA records for most career assists and steals by considerable margins.

Stockton, a 10-time NBA All-Star, commandingly holds the NBA record for career assists with 15,806 (10.5 per game), and had 5,483 more career assists than Mark Jackson, who is second all-time.  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 1164, 1134, 1128, 1126, 1118, 1031 and 1011 assists.

On defense, Stockton holds the NBA record for career steals with 3,265, nearly 30 percent more than second placed Michael Jordan, who had 2,514. Similar to his career-long partner Malone, Stockton was considered a "dirty" defender by some, but he was certainly effective, earning five NBA All-Defensive Second Team nominations.

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 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. In his last season at age 41, he started in all 82 games, and finished with more-than-respectable averages of 10.8 ppg and 7.7 apg.

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

Stockton avoided endorsements, and 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 insisted on guaranteed Delta Center ice time for his son's hockey team.