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~Stockton, John (1962- ),basketball player, w as born in Spokane, Washington. Johnplayed point guard for his high school basketball team , and hewon a scholarship to Gonzaga University in Spokane. There,he led the W est Coast A thletic Conference in scoring, steals,and assists in his senior year. In the 1984 National BasketballAssociation (NBA) draft, Stockton was picked in the first roundby the Utah Jazz. As Utah s point guard, he set an NBAseason record in 1987-1988 with 1128 assists. He increased thatrecord to 1164 in the 1990-1991 season. One of the greatestpassers in NBA history, John once recorded 27 assists in asingle gam e. The 1991-1992 season was his fifth straight year to

lead the league in assists. A t the end ofthat season, he ranked fourth in careerassists. M any times John scored 20points and made 20 assists in the samegam e. H e also consistently finishedam ong the league leaders in steals.A t the 1992 Olym pics, John Stocktonplayed with the U.S. Dream Team,which captured the gold medal in1r~ if, Barcelona, S pain.

W hen they choose up team s,they don t take the littlest guy inth e g ym , said Jo hn S to ck to n, th in k-ing back about his own experiencesas a 5-foot, 5-inch ninth grader. A sall sm aller kids know, the playersw ho pick the sides usually pick thebiggest kids first. T hat m eant Johnwas often picked last or not at all.

So I d dribble off on the side-lin es, w aitin g to p la y, h e re ca lled .W hen I did get to play, I saw rightaway the way to get back into thegame was to pass it to the big guysa ll th e time.26

In those early pickup games,the big guys loved getting a passfrom little John, so they d keep himin the game. They thought theywere great, but it was the greatpasses from John that made themlook good. A ll through high schooland college, John Stockton keptpassing the ball to the big guys.Much to the surprise of many ofthose guys, little John kept passingthe ball right into the N ational B as-k etb all Assoc ia tion (NBA).John Houston Stockton wasborn on March 26, 1962, in Spo-

kane, Washington. John andolder brother lived with theirents in a close-knit Irish-C athoneighborhood on the city s noside. John s father was part owof a small tavern that served fand drinks. As a boy, John wooften stop there on his way hofrom school to see his dad or waa game of pool.Year after year John Stockton of tU tah Jazz led the NBA in assistsDuring the 1 9 90 1 99 1 s ea so n he setthe record for assists in on e seasonwith 1164.

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tockton JohnJohn went to the Catholicgrade school a few blocks from hishouse and not far from the tavern.One spring day, his father heardfrom a custom er that John was run-ning the m ile in a track meet down

at the school. A lthough he hadn theard anything about it before, hedecided to walk down the street tosee what his son could do.

-11 , ,~.Stockton thro ws up a shot over theLakers Magic Johnson.

As the dad sat in the stands,little John broke the grade-schoolcity record by 15 seconds in theprelim inary race. T hen, in the final,h e b lew away th e competitio n, b re ak -ing the record for the m ile run by35 seconds. Tears came to theman s eyes as he watched his sonw in the race.

H e s com ing d own the stretch,28

and I m sitting there bawling in thestands, rem em bered John s father.That s the only time John ever sur-prised me. He s never surprised me. Ince.

Although John did not havegreat size, everyone could see hehad natural ability and the desire tow in. H is basketball coach in gradeschool w atched m any tim es as Johngave everything he had during agam e. T hinking o f the S tockton b oy,the coach commented, He d runface first into this brick w all at fullspeed if he had to to get a victory.

As a ninth grader at GonzagaP rep , th e lo ca l C ath olic h ig h sch oo l,John weighed only 90 pounds. Bythe time he was a senior, he wasa thin 6-footer w ho still looked likea kid. D uring his years playing highschool ball, he had developed intoa good point guard, the player whohandles the ball and calls the plays.Still, the m ajor colleges thoughtJohn was too small to play. So heaccepted a scholarship from Gon-zaga U niversity, a few blocks fromhome.

At Gonzaga, John improvedsteadily. He concentrated on hispassing, but he also learned how toscore. In his senior season, 1983-1984, he led his conference in scor-ing average (20.9 per gam e), assists,a nd ste als.

John almost made the 1984U.S. Olympic team. He played so

w ell at the tryouts that NBA scotook notice. In the 1984 NBA dStockton was picked in theround by the Utah Jazz.He played part-time withJazz for three seasons, aslearned the pro gam e and im prohis skills. H is coach m ade John

starting point guard at the bening of the 1987-1988 season,he quickly became one ofNBA s best. That season, he ma record 1128 assists. Onlyother players had ever made mthan 1000 assists in a season.

Stockton s passing amazboth his teammates and his opnents. He demonstrated pinpoaccuracy no matter what the sition-a lob pass for a dunk, a sbounce pass to the inside, osharply angled pass on a fast breHe could be dribbling the ball ling one way and then with a sof the wrist send the ball the otway to an open teammate. Stoton s favorite target was KMalone, the NBA s bruising M

an.M alone came to understathat his ow n success and the teaim proving record ow ed m uch to

team leader, Stockton. He squa rte rb ack, s aid Ma lone . Whim we go. W ithout him we doIt s as sim ple as that.

As the team leader, Johnin the classic mold of Bob Cou

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he old Celtic great. Like Cousy,tockton w as fairly sm all, at 6 feet,inch, and 175 pounds. Also likeusy, John had large hands, w hichelped him in his dribbling andStockton came to excel inther parts of the game, as well.

e led the NBA in steals in 1988-989, and he always played excel-ent defense. He also grew into aolid NBA scorer, averaging about7 points a gam e. His percentaget the three-point range was oftenne of the best in the league, ande hit over 80 per cent of his free

S tockto n s team leadership andgreat passing helped m ake the Jazzone of the best teams in the NBA.In 1990-1991, he raised the leaguerecord to 1164 assists in a season.The following season was his fifthstraight as the league leader in as-sists-and he again led the NBA insteals. Then, in 1992, he w on a goldmedal with the Dream Team at theBarc elo na , S pain , O lymp ic Games.

Back home in Spokane, manyrem em bered John as a short, skinnyyoungster, and they m arveled at hisach iev em en ts in b asketball. If yo utold me he d be a chess champion,I wouldn t have argued, said hisgrade school coach. B ut that w asn ttoo far from the secret of JohnStockton s success. Said KarlM alone, He s the smartest playerI v e ever k nown.

Stockton drives to the hoop againston e of his toughest rivals-K evinJohnson of the Phoenix Suns.

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