Utah Jazz legend John Stockton revealed that he wouldn’t be the player he turned out to be if he played for another team. According to the Hall of Famer, there was something about the Salt Lake altitude Stock knew he wouldn’t find anywhere else.
” I don’t think I could have played anywhere else at the same level,” John told SLAM. “Comfort is a big part of it, and anywhere else, I would have been swimming upstream .”
Stock’s legendary career
To this day, Stockton may be one of the greatest players never to win a ring. However, he is undoubtedly one of the best point guards in the NBA’s history.
John retired in 2003, and 21 years later, he’s still the NBA’s all-time leader in assists (15,806) and steals (3,265). The 10-time All-Star was a nine-time assists champion, an 11-time All-NBA team awardee, and a two-time league leader in steals, among many other remarkable achievements.
Utah basketball wouldn’t have been relevant without the duo of Karl Malone and Stockton, who put the state on the map. Unfortunately, the two couldn’t lead the squad to a championship as they ran into Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls in the 1997 and 1998 NBA Finals.