Utah Jazz: Where does Donovan Mitchell rank among guards in franchise history?

There were no close calls here. We made the decision to name John Stockton the best guard in Utah Jazz history as quickly as Stockton himself found his teammates every single time they were open.

Since there is zero margin for debate on the issue, feast your eyes on the basic counting stats from John Stockton’s 1989-90 season: 17.2 points, 14.5 assists and 2.7 steals per contest. For context, Russell Westbrook led the NBA in assists per game this season with 11.7 per contest. Stockton averaged no fewer than 12 dimes a night for 8 consecutive seasons between 1987-88 and 1994-95.

In all likelihood, John Stockton’s record for the most assists in NBA history is the league’s most untouchable record: even Wilt’s legendary 100 point game feels more likely to be replicated. Stockton has a stranglehold on the all-time leader board: the gap between him and the second all-time leader (Jason Kidd) is wider (3 715) than the gap between Kidd and the 8th place LeBron James (2 395).

Oh, and he’s the NBA’s all-time leader in steals too. No big deal.

Current Utah Jazz superstar Donovan Mitchell ought not to be comparing himself to past franchise stars, but in the event that he is, he should be chasing Deron Williams aggressively. On the other hand, there are catastrophic world events that feel more likely than anybody ever taking John Stockton’s position as the best guard in Utah Jazz history.