John Stockton; My Favorite Athlete

John Stockton is one of the greatest athletes in history. John is an inspiration to everyone, including many aspiring basketball athletes. He has taught so many important things, like that appearances don’t matter, what matters is how much work you are willing to put in. Time and time again, John Stockton has showed so much humility, which is a quality many professional athletes lack. He also never let his faith and religion dim. John Stockton is one of my favorite athletes. On March 26, 1962, John Houston Stockton was born in Spokane, Washington. His parents, Jack and Clementine Stockton, were “the best parents ever,” says John from his autobiography, Assisted. John was raised in a Roman Catholic neighborhood and was Catholic himself. “Stocks’ never wavered one iota from his beliefs,” states best friend and former teammate, Karl Malone, in John’s autobiography.

Stocks, as they called him in the NBA, recalls his first experience with basketball was when he would beg to play with his older brother, Steve, and and Steve’s friends. Then, John received an extremely cool red and blue ABA basketball for Christmas. The ball was John’s ticket to play in any game with the bigger kids because of everyone’s desire to play with the ball. Any chance he got, John practiced and practiced, knowing that this hard work would be valuable in his development. Each year he would receive a new basketball for Christmas because of how worn out the ball from the previous year would be. This shows his extreme dedication to a sport he knew would pay off in the future.

John kept practicing and working his hardest on basketball. He continued on to play for Gonzaga Prep high school. After making the team as a freshman, John then attended Gonzaga University and became a forever bulldog. In 1984. John was drafted to play for the Utah Jazz. Reaching a height of only 6’1”, which is extremely short for an NBA player, he still was an amazing basketball player. Most people believe that scoring is the only important thing in the basketball game, but the assists are so crucial in the scoring process. John would assist his best friend and teammate, Karl Malone, and point after point would be scored. Karl Malone is considered one of the best power forwards of all time, and him and John were the unbreakable duo. John never played for another team during his whole career and retired after 19 years of playing in 2003. John holds the NBA record for the most career assists and is considered to be one of the best point guards of all time.

As mentioned before, Stock is extremely short for an NBA player. Many people did not think he was adequate to be a professional basketball player, but he sure proved them all wrong by playing amazing defense against guys who were much taller than him. In result of all his hard work, John Stockton was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2009. Another inspirational and amazing thing about John was how humble he was. Many players on the court like to trash-talk each other and say how great they are at the game, but John “never felt the need for that”, according to Assisted. In a Deseret News article, it talks about how “friendly and outgoing he was to any person, including the opposing team. John always showed great humility on and off the court and it is very admirable. Even in his Hall of Fame speech, Stockton didn’t hesitate to immediately thank the owner of the Jazz, Larry H. Miller, for all of his success. John is truly an example to me and others, that we should never get caught up in our own achievements, and to always be a good sport because it truly does reflect your character.

In conclusion, John Stockton is my favorite athlete. Stock or Stocks, as they called him in the NBA, holds the record for most assists and is in the Hall of Fame. Being really short for the NBA, a lot of people didn’t believe in him, but he proved them wrong and inspires us all to have faith in yourself when no one else does. Showing so much humility throughout his whole career and even past retirement, Stockton is one of the most humble professional athletes of all time. John Stockton is an inspiration to me because he worked so hard to get where he was and he was nothing short of amazing. He may not be the best player of all time on record, but Stocks will always be the best to me.