30 players who define each NBA franchise

Honorable Mentions: Karl Malone, Pete Maravich, Adrian Dantley

The numbers make it very difficult to make a case for Stockton not being the NBA’s greatest point guard of all-time, and as a result, that makes him easily the most important player in the history of the Utah Jazz. Never mind franchise records, Stockton holds the league records for both assists and steals.

Stockton played with the Jazz for an incredible 19 seasons in total, and it’s a travesty that he was never able to pick up a championship ring during that time. Michael Jordan played a big role in stopping him, and in any other era, there’s no knowing how successful the pairing of Stockton and Karl Malone could actually have been.

Back-to-back Finals losses to Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls in 1997 and 1998 will forever remain a bitter pill for Jazz fans to swallow. Though Utah can take solace from the fact that they played Chicago tough on both occasions forcing them to six games too.

There absolutely, positively, will never ever be another John Stockton – ever. – Karl Malone

Aside from Stockton’s obvious standing in both assists and steals, he ranks top ten for the Jazz in points, rebounds and field goal percentage too. Worth noting too is the fact that in a career where he only played for the Jazz, Stockton racked up the third most games played in NBA history. Not just a magician with the ball in his hands, but something of an NBA iron man too.

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