Stockton’s All-Star Absence Felt Most By Malone Utah’s Dynamic Duo Won’t Be Together In Game For The First Time Since 1988
Stockton and Malone will be forever mentioned together, linked like Abbott and Costello and Fred and Ginger.
Sunday, when the National Basketball Association’s best gather in New York City for the 48th annual All-Star Game, only one-half of the Utah Jazz’s duo will be on the court.
For the first time since the 1988 All-Star Game, John Stockton and Karl Malone won’t be teammates on the Western Conference team. Point guard Stockton didn’t make it this year.
“It’s definitely weird that he’s not here,” said Malone, last season’s NBA Most Valuable Player.
Instead Malone, who joined the Jazz as their No. 1 pick in the 1985-86 season - one year after Stockton - will run the pick-and-roll with point guards Gary Payton of the Seattle SuperSonics, Jason Kidd of the Phoenix Suns and Nick Van Exel of the Los Angeles Lakers.
It won’t be the same, Malone said. Nobody does it like Stockton, the NBA’s all-time leader in assists and steals. The pair shared All-Star Most Valuable Player honors in 1993.
“Maybe I’m biased because he’s my teammate,” Malone said, “but for what he does for our team and what he does for the league, I think he should be here.”
If not for injury, he probably would be.
Stockton, a former Gonzaga Prep and Gonzaga University star, missed the first 18 games of the season while recovering from surgery on his left knee. He still finished third among guards in All-Star fan balloting.
“If he didn’t get hurt, he’d definitely be here,” Payton said. “He’s been that good for that long.”
Even though Kidd finished fifth and Van Exel eighth in fan balloting, they were selected to the squad by SuperSonics and Western Conference coach George Karl.
Fans picked Payton and 19-year-old Kobe Bryant of the Lakers to start. Karl rounded out his backcourt with shooting guards Mitch Richmond of the Sacramento Kings and Eddie Jones of the Lakers.
While Stockton likely will spend the weekend with his wife, Nada, and their five children, Malone said he’s probably thinking about basketball.
“In the back of his mind - and I know Stock - he wants to be here,” Malone said. “He’d never admit that, though.”
Sunday, in front of a Madison Square Garden crowd, Malone will miss his sidekick.
“With John and me, it’s not just basketball,” he said. “We’re friends. No matter if we never play together again, we’ll be friends forever.”
xxxx COMING UP Today: NBA All-Star Saturday Night, 4 p.m. (TNT). Sunday: NBA, All-Star Game, 3 p.m. (NBC).