Another blogger recently posted about how to determine the greatest point guards.  He attempted to look at it from a statistical vantage point which, as a man of numbers myself, is usually a good starting point.  Of course, his results which determined that Oscar Robertson and Stephon Marbury are the best on paper, showed just how flawed statistical determinations can be.  Robertson certainly belongs in any discussion of the greatest point guards, he averaged a triple double one season, but if you want to talk about the greatest to play the position, the topic begins and ends with John Stockton.

Sure, a statistical argument could be made for Stockton.  He is the career leader in both assists and steals, stats which are expected from the position.  No one else is even close.  After Stockton usurped the leaders in that category, he kept piling on to those stats for another decade until he was in his forties wearing old man shorts and still schooling the more athletic, younger players.  Some might say that if Magic Johnson's career had not ended prematurely that he would have the assist record, but that is assuming Johnson would have had the endurance to play into his forties.  While Magic does have a slightly better assist/game ratio, Stockton had him beaten there until the late nineties when Stockton's minutes per game were reduced to facilitate his aging legs.

Of course, as I said earlier, stats are misleading when talking about this position.  Like a quarterback in football, the most important category to grade the point guard is wins and losses.  Here, Magic and Isiah Thomas rival Stockton, maybe even have the edge.  Both of those guys had multiple championships while running their teams, but both were big market guys in the pre-salary cap NBA.  They were surrounded by great supporting casts from the starters to the bench warmers.  It could be argued that the worst player on Magic's Lakers and Thomas' Pistons could have been the third best player on Stockton's Jazz.  Stockton came up short when it came to getting the big trophy, but his teams always won.  From the time he became a starter, the Jazz never missed the playoffs regardless of how lacking they were in talent.  He just masterminded the game plan so that his teammates talents were best used.  Also, let it be clear, the lack of a championship in no way reflects on Stockton's abilities in the big game.  When it mattered, Stockton was clutch.  He sent the Jazz to their first finals appearence when he nailed a 35 foot jumper at the buzzer to beat the defending champion, and stacked, Houston Rockets (Hakeem Olajuwaon, Clyde Drexler).  In the finals against Michael Jordan's dynastic Bulls, Stockton put the team on the ropes with a full length of the court baseball pass to Karl Malone at the end of a game.  (Note: That Jazz team takes it to game seven if Byron Russell makes a layup--or Scottie Pippen is called for goal tending--at the end of game six.  Also, if Rodman does not get into Karl Malone's head by playing on his homophobia, I think the Jazz would have won back-to-back championships against Chicago.)

What really seperates Stockton from the pack were the intangibles.  When I watch point guard play today, I am saddened when the PG breaks the press and does not immediately put on the breaks just past half court in order to be run over by the attacking defender.  I miss hearing big power forwards whining that the other team's diminutive point guard slammed an elbow into his side when he cut through the lane.  Today's guards rarely go nose to nose with a bigger guy, initiate the contact, and then thrust themselves backwards to get the call.  Some called him dirty, but better terms were crafty and pesky.  He looked like the old guy who shows up at the playground and asks to play with you and your fraternity brothers.  You snicker about his out of date clothes and his miniature frame, but when the games over, his team has won because he made the little plays like getting you across the wrist on a layup or setting a screen to free up the slow footed guy with the great shot.

Stockton is often forgotten.  Maybe it is because he played his entire career in Salt Lake City.  More likely it is because his game lacked flash and excitement.  If it had those things, maybe he is not the greatest of all time.  Really, should the point guard be the biggest star on the team?  That players role is to create the flow of the game and get his teammates involved.  Stockton's greatness was that he was invisible most of the time, knowing when the refs were not paying attention and keeping his focus on the team instead of himself.  No one has ever done it better.