John Stockton takes top slot in Utah Jazz Top 10 rankings

Who is the Top Utah Jazz player? Well, according to Clutch Points, it’s John Stockton.

Let’s ignore the problematic and suspect behavior of Karl Malone, if we’re looking at his contributions to the Utah Jazz, and just his on-court stuff, Malone is easily the best player in the history of the Jazz, right? Well, not according to Clutch Points. They see things a little differently.

Malone isn’t the No. 1 guy on Clutch Points’ Top 10, instead, they’re going with his running buddy, John Stockton. Stockton, the all-time leader in assists in NBA history, helped Malone get many of his 36,928 points (third all-time in NBA history).

It seems like his assists and steals records for the NBA is the deciding factor for why Stockton out-ranks Malone. Specifically, the ability to break them. Malone was close to breaking Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s all-time point-scoring total, but came up short; only to watch LeBron James surpass Abul-Jabbar.

Stockton’s assists record, however, is nearly unbreakable, with Chris Paul needing six full seasons of 10+ assists per game to break Stockton’s record. If viewed in that context, then yes, Stockton had a more impressive career, as his stats are going to be nearly impossible to break.

But does that mean Stockton was a better player than Malone? It’s fair to say its a wash between the two men, as they needed one another to succeed. Malone needed Stockton’s shooting to keep defenders honest, and while Malone was the more reliable scorer, only due to his proximity to the rim most plays, Stockton was the better defender and made the Jazz’s defense hum. It’s no surprise that Mark Eaton’s game took a jump after Stockton was drafted by the Jazz, as Eaton would win his first of two Defensive Players of the Year Awards when Stockton joined the squad.

Stockton’s impact on the team as a whole can easily be seen as well, as so many players excelled when they joined Stockton. That’s not to take away from Malone’s on-court attributes, but he was never someone that tried to make others around him better.

That was literally Stockton’s job and he did it very well.