Through 70+ NBA seasons, John Stockton still owns the greatest statistical indicator, & most reliable measure, of an ELITE PG (THREAD).

Gary Payton, arguably the best guard defender of all time, says John Stockton was harder to guard than Michael Jordan.

As small as Stockton was (6’1, 175lbs), John missed only 4 games in his first 13 seasons, & played in EVERY GAME in 15 of his 17 seasons.

Don’t fall for the idea that he couldn’t score. Stockton was lethal. Exhibit A: he single-handedly took over in the do-or-die game vs. the Hakeem-Drexler-Barkley Rockets. Utah trailed by 10 with 2:59 left. Then, Stockton went bananas.

• For 5 straight seasons, Stockton averaged ~14 assists per game.

• In 1988, he dropped 24 assists in a playoff game (NBA record) vs. the Kareem-Magic-Worthy Lakers.

• In 1990, he averaged 14.5 (NBA record), & 15 in the playoffs, with 1,164 total for the season (NBA record).

• In ‘89, Stockton had 20 points & 20 assists in 3 of 4 straight games (15 pts & 19 asts in the other), & 2 more back-to-back 20 assists games, including an 18-point, 27-assist game.

• He has 9 20-20 games. Collectively, Kidd, CP3, Westbrook, Nash, Iverson, & Marbury have 9.

And if that wasn’t enough, Stockton also happens to still own the defensive equivalent: steals.

John Stockton has 581 more steals than No.2 Kidd & 1,263 more steals than active leader Chris Paul. If CP3 avg‘d 100 steals per season, he’d have to play about 12 more years to break Stockton’s record.