Here's a rarity: A member of the media protesting the inclusion of John Stockton on the All-Star team.
"What would the All-Star Game look like without the politics?" wrote columnist Shaun Powell of The Sporting News. "Here's what: John Stockton would be absent . . . Stockton finished among the leading vote-getters. Must've been on his reputation. This season, his assists are down and his defense is so bad that opposing guards are sending limos for him."Powell said his five West guards would be Clyde Drexler, Gary Payton, Latrell Sprewell, Mitch Richmond and Eddie Jones.
He's right about Stockton's assists being down, from an average of 11.2 last season to 10.5 so far this season. But that still puts him at second in the NBA in that category. Stockton is also 10th in the NBA in field-goal percentage - tops among all guards in that category; fourth in three-point percentage; 15th in free-throw percentage; ninth in steals.
Across the board, no other guard ranks nearly as high.
Charles Barkley was his usual gracious self after the Jazz beat the Rockets over the weekend in Houston.
"If that's the best they got, then I still like our chances," Barkley said. "I give Utah a little credit, but everybody saw the game."
Barkley also offered an opinion on the remarkable durability of Stockton and Karl Malone.
"It doesn't surprise me because of the way they play," he said. "They don't run and they don't jump. They run the pick-and-roll. They should never miss a game. If they ever ran a fast break and ran and dunked a lot, they'd get hurt."
Barkley's comments shouldn't be taken too seriously, however. He actually respects the Jazz duo.
"Karl is a great friend of mine and John a great friend of mine," he said. "You got to have respect for what they have accomplished in their careers."
Several former Jazz players are toiling in Europe this season. Mike Brown is averaging 13.6 points a game for Viola Reggio Calabria of the Italian League A1, Thurl Mailey is averaging 19.1 for A.P. Cantu of the same league, and Andy Toolson is averaging 15.3 for Festina Joventut of the Spanish League.
And then there's Eric Murdock, who over the course of a couple of seasons plummeted from starter in Milwaukee to expansion-draft pick to benchwarmer in Vancouver to Fortitudo Bologna of the Italian League, where he's averaging 20.3 points per game.
Other Jazz player sightings in Europe: Jeff Malone, James Donaldson and, until they signed recently with NBA teams, Eric Leckner and John Crotty.
Speaking of Jeff Malone, Mike Canter of Stats Inc. has named an award after the former Jazz shooter. The award recognizes players who don't do anything but score - players who, on a per-48 minutes basis, collect the LEAST amount of assists, rebounds, blocks and steals (ARBS). Malone is the award's namesake because he's the all-time leader in this category, and a five-time single-season award winner. He also posted the greatest single-season performance, in the 1992-93 season.
Other winners include former Knick Bill Bradley, former Rocket Calvin Murphy, four-time winner Kiki Vandeweghe, and current players Dale Ellis and Hubert Davis. Davis, by the way, is just one-tenth of a point behind Malone for the career-leader spot.
Among players vying for this year's coveted title are Glen Rice, Sasha Danilovic, Lindsey Hunter, Vernon Maxwell and Dell Curry.
In the waning minutes of Utah's victory over the Nuggets this week, veteran Denver gunner Dale Ellis turned to a Delta Center heckler and said, "They won't make it out of the first round," referring to the Jazz in the playoffs.
Responded another fan: "At least we'll be in the playoffs."
Incidentally, the last time Ellis saw the Jazz in the postseason, they were knocking him and the rest of the San Antonio Spurs out in four games - in the first round, 1994.