Jerry Sloan and John Stockton Make Surprising HOF Picks
As a player and coach, John Stockton and Jerry Sloan are about as consistent and predictable as it gets. Today, the pair threw the basketball world a curve ball when they announced their presenters for this weekend’s Hall of Fame ceremony. Sloan chose Charles Barkley while Stockton picked Isiah Thomas.
The Utah Jazz head coach told the Salt Lake Tribune that he chose Barkley because, “The biggest thing, I guess, is that my [late] wife Bobbye was a big fan of his. At the [1992] All-Star Game in Orlando, she saw him stand there for an hour or so and sign autographs.”
Stockton opted for Isiah because of how the former Detroit Piston paved the way for smaller guards. “First of all, he set a huge standard for all little guys,” Stockton said. “At the time, the NBA was going toward bigger and bigger guards. But he showed everyone that little guys could play, too.”
“I ran up against him once in high school and he changed my entire view of basketball,” Stockton continued. “We played in an AAU tournament and I has never seen anything like it.”
There was speculation back in the early ’90s that there might have been bad blood between Stockton and Thomas because of the Dream Team selection controversy. This pretty much puts that rumor to rest.
Source: The Salt Lake Tribune
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September 8th, 2009 at 7:20 pm
Amar says:
In other shocking developments, Karl Malone has announced that Shawn Kemp is one of his illegit sons, and is happy to accept 19 new grandkids into his family.
September 8th, 2009 at 7:25 pm
Diego says:
No surprise re. Stockton; big surprise re. Sloan.
But Sloan was a very tenacious player I understand back in his day, so Barkley pick seems to fit a bit in that regard too as Sloan also may respect Barkley for that in addition to his other reasons.
September 8th, 2009 at 7:26 pm
King says:
Stocktons selection makes some sense. Not so much for Sloan
September 8th, 2009 at 7:47 pm
doc says:
It makes sense.Anybody Sloan looked up to is probably dead.
September 8th, 2009 at 8:00 pm
Seven Duece says:
So does an presenter have to be a HOFer as well?
September 8th, 2009 at 8:35 pm
alf (from melmak) says:
Yes Deuce, they have to also be in the HOF.
If you listen to Barkley’s commentaries over the years, you would hear that he has a soft side to the Jazz.
I would still have loved to see Sloan, Stockton, and Malone go in at the same time.
The way it goes now, both Sloan and Stockton will be overshadowed by Jordan.
September 8th, 2009 at 8:53 pm
Juan R aka RickyRubio9 aka Rocketfan2503 says:
Sloan picked Barkley because he was thanking him on that pick and roll he messed up on in 97 I believe. lol. giving Stockton the game winning 3 and the first trip to the finals. I believe..:)
September 8th, 2009 at 10:10 pm
Will says:
BS they are trying to be funny with this shit. Lemme get this straight. Isiah had better stats on a good team, more wins, and more chips than Stockton, but Stockton gets the dream team nod and Zeke “gets” to present him to the HOF?
WTF is this.
September 8th, 2009 at 10:34 pm
sh!tfaced says:
sloan doesn’t have a sense of humor so he naturally chose barkley. to make his inauguration not that boring…
September 8th, 2009 at 11:21 pm
Yucca Man says:
Sorry, but Sloan can actually be really, really funny.
Last season Jazz fans were chanting his name after winning his 1000th with the Jazz. “Jerry, Jerry, Jerry!” Sloan commented that the chanting made him kind of nervous. It reminded him too much of his wife trying to wake him up in the morning.
This past week, he told one of the local beat writers that his dribbling was “horseshit.”
The writer said something like, “oh yeah, well I can shoot 3’s.”
Sloan’s response: “a lot of guys can shoot it. That doesn’t mean they can make it.”
September 9th, 2009 at 1:12 am
weezy f says:
Sloan just explained why he made the pick dumbasses
September 9th, 2009 at 1:20 am
sh!tfaced says:
lol. yeah that’s right. just added a little something… only to be corrected… haha
david thompson… isiah thomas… charles barkley… people who had their share of controversy in the past… very curious picks… makes you wonder if this is some sort of make up shit for them…
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September 9th, 2009 at 4:39 am
UWEBLAg says:
“We played in an AAU tournament and I has never seen anything like it.”
Didn’t know stockton could speak ebonics.
September 9th, 2009 at 6:38 am
moronsallofyou says:
Hey Will, I think you took too many pills like your hero Isiah did when he tried to kill himself. On what planet did Isiah have better stats than stockton?
September 9th, 2009 at 8:41 am
Chris says:
Thomas is carrying Stckton’s jock strap into the HOF. Stockton has burned him again. He’s sneaky like that.
September 9th, 2009 at 10:01 am
doc says:
Zeke already in the HOF yall tripping.He just showing respect to another great.
September 9th, 2009 at 11:23 am
Amar says:
for those who care about stats say, it’s hard to call Zeke ‘pound for pound’ better than Stock. (this is in ref to the poll that’s up) I have created a formula for ranking players on offense. It’s called the Gestalt Offense (or GO) Rating.
The formula is complicated, but involves all the possiblities that you can do on any given offensive play (that there are current stats for, no stats on setting screens right now, or hockey assisting). Jordan is 191.841, Shaq is 150.783, Duncan is 100.811, Chris Mullin is a 87.719, a guy like Ostertag is 12.030, and so forth.
Stockton has a GO Rating of 111.897, Zeke has one of 107.862. They are pretty close, but one is a few points ahead. (4.035 — around the same difference that Hakeem is better than Duncan by) [These stats are based on their career regular season totals]
Defensively Stocks statistics are superior.
Easily, Stockton is pound for pound better than Thomas (esp. when John weighs less), if you take into account stats.
Thomas was a better leader, knew how to assert himself better, and a more accomplished winner.
I could not say one was better than the other, they did different things on the court — but they both did them amazingly.
September 9th, 2009 at 11:49 am
Rico says:
Stockton was more impressive than Isaiah because he was white. It’s harder for a white man to be good in sports than a black man….whites are physically inferior to latinos and blacks…..not being racist, it’s just the way it is. Because of that fact Stockton gets the edge.
September 9th, 2009 at 1:02 pm
SagJism says:
Put you crack pipes down whoever said Stockton is better than Zeke. Yes he may have better stats but as we know from the Kobe LBJ MJ arguments, stats are not the determining factor. Let’s be real for all who are old enough to have watch these guys play. DO you really think Stockton is better than Zeke? Do you remember when Zeke found out that he was not going to the Olympics becaise of jordan and then they picked Stockton. Do you remember Zeke basicallyt treating him like a redheaded step child so bad that Karl Malone had to knock him upside his head and get 10 stitches and then Zeke still came back and blasted Stockton. He was ok, not really a HOF’er in my book but he does have the stats but so does Steve Nash and who can he check or win against?
September 9th, 2009 at 1:13 pm
Chris says:
Highly scientific formula, Rico. I suprisingly/ashamedly/actually agree.
September 9th, 2009 at 1:57 pm
doc says:
@Amar-we know you a Utah homer,but if you say somebody was a better leader,better at asserting himself,and more accomplished at winning…how in the hell is the other guy better?
September 9th, 2009 at 2:35 pm
Amar says:
I don’t think I articulated myself well enough, Doc . . . statistically Stock is better. Isiah has the hardware though. I think they are pretty much even in influence to the game as players.
People remember things like Isiah vs. the Knicks, in the playoffs — or Stock’s buzzer beaters. Both guys were completely capable of taking control, Isiah has his share of clutch moments, and Stockton could take over as well. (In that game where we shoots the 3 over barkley for the win people overlook his entire 4th quarter for just that one shot — look at the vids (on youtube), stockton had his own “isiah thomas” type moment in that game)
Again, I do not rank one player above the other. (There are ranks based on specific qualities though — Isiah better at penetrating, Stockton better three point shooter, etc)