Hate Utah. Hate the Jazz. Hate Sloan. Hate Malone. Hate Hornacek. Hate Stockton. As a Rockets fan, I hate all of them. But it would be intellectually dishonest of me to say that in part, my hatred of them has made me an even stronger Rockets fan. So yes, I'd give him the ovation. He deserved it.
Man, I hate Stockton and the Jazz (especially Malone). But we won 2 championships and he won zero, for me, that is good enough even though he hit that three in 97.
Give credit where credit is due. He was a great player but sad to say he really gave it to the Rockets.
I'm a basketball fan, period. I have to respect him, and how many other six foot players were asked to set picks on forwards and centers, like Stockton was? Maybe he crossed the line once in a while, but he was tough as hell and the purest point ever. I'd take him over every point of his era but Magic. And that includes Isiah, KJ, Tim Hardaway, Mark Price. He played hard every night and almost never got hurt. Plus I just caught one of his old games on NBATV the other day where he had 28 assists and could've had a couple more at least. The man could play.
I challenge anyone to listen to that HOF speech and come away from it still disliking John Stockton. Can't figure out how to embed it, though.
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Look that speech, his actions off the court, hes a humble modest man it seems and as much as I am a rockets fan, I love the game, and I respect the game. So I may not 'like him' bc of that shot, but I respect his work ethic and humility, and would definitely give him a long standing ovation as one of the games best pgs, coachable, hard working(yes he had to do the cheap stuff for sloan) and played on both sides of the court, its sad steve nash got 2 mvps for doing only what stockton did on one side of the court...but this guy deserved more props but it was a pleasure and I hope rockets can land a pg like him one day. It's unfortunate for people who would ruin his last check out of his last game after his contributions to the game and the way he handled himself is something we should teach current bball players and future generations who just ooze for attention and showboating
Dirty player. Regardless of how hard he worked, he didnt play the right way. Thats what irks me, had he played the RIGHT way, he might have not even been in Utah. Then he would have been a HOF without the asterisks and other "baggage" that comes from playing under Sloan. He CHOSE to do things Sloan's way, even though he didn't have to. Some guys fighting for a job may have had to, but not Stockton. So no standing O. I might have snickeringly cheered at his last game since he was "going away" though.
