As John Stockton has approached the NBA all-time assist record, there's been a lot of discussion about whether he's better than the players he's overtaken.
And it's all pointless. Comparing Stockton to Magic Johnson or Oscar Robertson is like comparing a Van Gogh to a Gauguin or a Rembrandt.They're all works of art. And you appreciate works of art for what they are, not for how they stack up against each other.
The inescapable fact is, Stockton is a perfect point guard. That doesn't mean he completes every pass or knocks down every shot, just that he possesses all the attributes that make up the ideal point guard. The obvious question is - What are those attributes? Here's what the experts say:
UNSELFISHNESS
"The assist is the most unselfish play in basketball," said Scott Layden, Jazz director of basketball operations. "When you have a guy who's always thinking of others, that's the perfect point guard."
Stockton has said he started passing as a youngster when he discovered that older guys would let him play with them if he fed them the ball. But his unselfishness extends beyond his willingness to give up the ball - and the glory. Asked recently if passing or scoring gives him a greater thrill, he responded, "I don't think I get more of a thrill out of either one. Depending on the point in the game and what's necessary, if you can deliver the play, whatever that is - heck, if it's a screen - and you get a guy open and he scores a big basket for you, that gives me as much of a charge as anything."
Jazz teammate Karl Malone, who has benefited from more Stockton passes than any other player, says, "As a scoring forward or two (shooting) guard, John is what you always dreamed of in a point guard. He has the ability to make the last-second shot, but instead he wants to be the guy to set up the last-second shot."
LEADERSHIP
" `Point' to me means someone who leads, and I don't think there's been a point guard who leads better than John Stockton," said Ron Boone, Jazz color analyst.
Stockton is frequently the smallest player on the court, but size isn't what makes a leader. Magic Johnson, who as a 6-foot-9 point guard literally looked down on many of the guys he passed to, says Stockton stood much taller than his 6-foot-1.
"He is by far the best floor leader there is, in terms of leading his team and making the pass and getting everybody where they should be in the offense," Johnson said. "His whole thing is get everybody involved."
HEART
"John Stockton is 170 pounds of heart, and the other five pounds is water weight," said Scott Layden.
"He goes in there, drives, gets knocked down to the floor, gets up, and comes right back at you again," said Magic Johnson. "He's tough as nails."
One measure of Stockton's heart is that he'll set a pick on anybody. Most players, even many big guys, don't like to set picks. It can be painful. You can get run over. Worst of all, there's absolutely no glory in it.
"He's the best screener on the team," Layden said. "He's fearless. It's no fun going in there and looking at the likes of (Dikembe) Mutombo and (Hakeem) Olajuwon and Rik Smits. We've seen Buck Williams go down there and try to take his head off."
"Stockton doesn't set a phantom pick so he can go and get himself open," said Boone. "He sets the pick, holds the pick like he's supposed to. He takes a beating because the majority of times he sets picks on power forwards. They toss him around like a rag doll, and he just keeps coming back."
DURABILITY
Stockton turns 33 on March 26. In 101/2 NBA seasons he's played 859 games, missed four. The four he missed all occurred in the 1989-90 season, when a severely sprained ankle slowed him and the flu stopped him cold, eventually putting him in a Charlotte hospital. Even then, coach Jerry Sloan practically had to order him not to play.
In an era of athletes who miss games because they have the sniffles, Stockton is a rarity. He plays with reckless abandon, dives on the floor for loose balls in meaningless scrimmages, even comes to practice when under the weather.
"He has to be near-death before he'd ever consider missing a game," said former Jazz teammate Mark Eaton.
COMPETITIVENESS
"He hates to lose anything - a card game, a pool game, anything," Eaton said. "If Jerry (Sloan) or Phil (Johnson, assistant coach) make a bad call in practice and it costs his team the game, he becomes a stubborn brat. It's that inner drive that compels him to compete night after night."
Stockton is feisty. It's not uncommon to see him get into an argument with a teammate over a shooting contest in practice, and though it's conducted in a jocular fashion, there's an undertone of seriousness. He likes to win.
"Beneath that choir-boy look, there's an inner rage, the desire to prove himself - in a good way," said Gordon Chiesa, Jazz assistant coach.
SCORING ABILITY
This is probably Stockton's most overlooked attribute. He has even been criticized at times for not scoring, which is roughly akin to criticizing Sandy Koufax for not hitting more home runs. It's especially senseless considering that it's obvious, to anyone who's watched him much, that he could score a lot more, if he so desired. Since his rookie year, he's never shot lower than 48.2 percent from the field. His career percentage coming into this season was 51.2. This season, he's shooting 55.8 percent from the field, 45 percent from the three-point line.
"He's everyone's worst nightmare," Layden said. "If you lay off him he can shoot the three, and if you play him too close he blows by you. How do you guard this guy?"
ENERGY
Have you ever seen Stockton look tired? Have you ever seen him bend over, put his hands on his knees, and pant? It just doesn't happen. Even when Sloan gives him his traditional five-minute breather at the end of each first and third quarter, Stockton looks as fresh as he does at tip-off.
"He has tremendous energy," said Jazz president Frank Layden. "He never tires. He's all over the court and he doesn't even sweat. He's a Rolls-Royce. You just turn him on and he runs for 10 years and never runs down."
VISION
Observe the way he comes down the court, sizing up the defense, watching his teammates, glancing at the 24-second clock, checking in with Sloan for a play to run. A lot of pretend point guards are doing good to dribble without looking at the ball. Stockton simply sees everything.
"He virtually has eyes in the back of his head." Frank Layden said. "When he comes down the floor, he's constantly scanning. He's memorizing who's on the left, who's on the right. And he's thinking about the opponent, what the other guy will do."
SMARTS
An Academic All-American in college, Stockton is a genuinely bright guy. While his teammates snooze on flights, he works crossword puzzles. He reads books. He's smart, and he plays smart.
"He knows all his teammates' strengths and non-strengths," Chiesa said. "He has the ability to deliver the ball where his teammates can shoot. He'll vary the velocity and angle of the pass, according to who the pass is for. He retains things like a computer, from previous games, previous quarters, previous plays. I'm always amazed at his recall."
"I hate playing against him because he's too smart," said Sonics point guard Gary Payton. "He does everything right."
COURT SENSE
This is kind of a blanket term, encompassing things like creativity and anticipation. While somewhat hard to define, it's easy enough to tell when a player has it, and Stockton does.
An example: In a recent game, Stockton was surrounded by three players but managed to lob a pass to Antoine Carr under the basket, though he later admitted he couldn't even see Carr. He just knew from who he could see that someone had to be where Carr was.
That's court sense.
"I marvel at his anticipation," said teammate Jeff Hornacek. "Like a quarterback. I'll come around off a pick and in the split-second I'm open, the ball will just be sitting there waiting to be shot."
Occasionally, Stockton has even surprised himself. Asked recently about his most memorable passes, he told of one to the Mailman, who was guarded by Ralph Sampson of the Houston Rockets.
"He (Malone) was on one side of Ralph and I threw it to the other side and Karl spun around and caught it low and away - I don't know why I threw it there and I don't know how he managed to catch it there - but it completed the play and to this day I'm shocked by that play."
HANDS
Stockton has big hands for a 6-1 guy, hands that can transform a dribbled ball into a speeding assist in a microsecond. It makes him a threat to pass at any time, unlike many players, who pass effectively only when planted.
"He does that as well as anybody, where he can come at you and then pick it off the ground with one hand and just fire it, or get an outlet and then look ahead and pick it up off the dribble, still with one hand, and get it there," said Magic Johnson.
From hands to heart to smarts, the case is clearly made that Stockton is the perfect point guard. Perhaps the most amazing thing about him, though, is that he remains unpretentious despite all his accomplishments. He gets uncomfortable talking about records, he dreads the hoopla that will be made over his record-breaking assist. Humility may not be a necessary attribute of the ideal point guard, but it may help explain how Stockton became one.
*****
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Assists Leaders: NBA career assists
1. Magic Johnson 9,921
2. JOHN STOCKTON 9,911
3. Oscar Robertson 9,887
4. Isiah Thomas 9,061
5. Maurice Cheeks 7,392
6. Lenny Wilkens 7,211
7. Bob Cousy 6,955
8. Guy Rodgers 6,917
9. Nate Archibald 6,476
10. John Lucas 6,454