March 26 should probably be a holiday in Utah, where Jazz legend John Stockton played the entirety of his remarkably productive career.
Yes, it’s Stockton’s birthday. One of the greatest point guards in basketball history is 57. And 19 of his years on this planet, exactly one third, were spent on a Jazz roster.
By the time he wrapped up his NBA career, Stockton had amassed career numbers that are, in many categories, staggering.
Here are his all-time ranks in a few:
- Total assists: 1st, and nearly 4,000 assists more than second-place Jason Kidd (and no, Chris Paul, that record is not the result of home cooking from Utah scorekeepers)
- Assist Percentage: 1st
- Total steals: 1st, and nearly 600 steals more than second-place Jason Kidd
- Assists per game: 2nd
- Total games played: 4th
- Win Shares: 6th
- Steal Percentage: 8th
- Steals per game: 9th
- Total minutes played: 10th
- All-NBA selections: 12th
- True Shooting Percentage: 15th
- Win Shares per 48 Minutes 16th
- Offensive Box Plus-Minus: 17th
- Wins Over Replacement Player: 20th
- All-Defense selections: 29th
- Game Score per game: 34th
- Effective Field Goal Percentage: 36th
- Total free throws made: 45th
- Total points: 49th
- Box Plus-Minus: 51st
- Total field goals made: 71st
Stockton’s longevity was unreal, as evidence by all those counting stats, but his rate numbers were uniquely impressive as well.