The NBA announced its 2009 Hall of Fame class this week. Led by Michael Jordan, this is considered one of the better HoF classes in NBA history. This also leads to some good water cooler discussion topics, since the HoF induction is the ultimate time to sit back and reflect on exactly where a player's career stacks up on a historic level.
John Stockton is a member of this HoF class. He enters the Hall as the NBA all-time leader in both assists and steals…by a LOT. Liss wrote a blog about Stockton being the Jerry Rice of Assists because he has more than 5000 more assists than the guy in second, but what Liss didn't mention is that Stockton has a similar lead in all-time steals. Stockton is the only all-time leader in two of the five most respected counting stats in the NBA (points/rebounds/assists/blocks/steals), and he is so far out in front that he may never be caught in either of them. Stockton was also an insanely efficient scorer, routinely leading the league in true shooting percentage and offensive rating from the point guard position. Based partially on his numerical dominance, some believe that Stockton is the Greatest of All Time when it comes to NBA point guards.
But is he really? Because there is a flip side to the coin…Stockton was only twice in his 19 seasons voted onto the All NBA 1st team, and both of those came in the early '90s after Magic had retired but before Gary Payton and Jason Kidd came of age. Stockton never came within shouting distance of winning an MVP, checking in at 68th in all-time MVP shares where he doesn't even crack the top-10 among point guards despite the fact that MVP shares are cumulative and Stockton played many more seasons than most of the guys ahead of him on the list. And then, there is the qualitative argument: if Stockton is really the best point guard in history, and Karl Malone was arguably the best power forward in history when he played, then how on earth could two "greatest evers" at their positions play together on the same team for 18 years with a Hall of Fame coach and not win at least one title? I know there were outstanding teams during that period, but if you put two position GOATS together for almost two decades and they really are the best, it's almost inconceivable that they don't win at least once by accident.
Stockton was very good with almost inhuman consistency…he never missed the playoffs in 19 seasons, he played all 82 games in 17 of 19 seasons, and he was always one of the better players in the league. But he was never the best, neither himself as an individual nor his team. So if you want to base your "best" on career accomplishments that may never be duplicated, then Stockton may be the one for you. But if you tell me to pick one point guard to lead my team to the Promised Land in any one season, give me Magic or Oscar or Isiah or even Chris Paul and I feel more confident than I do if you give me Stockton. And to me, that means that Stockton can't be my greatest PG of all-time. What do you think?