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Not too long ago we got the article from Tom Haberstrom proving that the Bulls scorekeeper was juicing MJs steals and blocks during his DPOY season. That article is below is you haven't seen it.

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Stockton's steal and assist records are some of the most guady and unbreakable records in the NBA. What are the chances that these numbers were juiced just line MJs defensive numbers (and probably assists too honestly). Back then you didn't have Twitter and YouTube where every signed play could be scrutinized. It was way easier for these scorekeepers to juice the stats. That's another big reason Stockton's records won't be broken. I'm willing to bet there was a ton of very "loose" steals and assists called for him during his career.

It's long been rumored, at least for assists.

I checked home/away splits for a few seasons, however, and didn't get anything like strong confirmation. Indeed, his away stats were sometimes gaudier, especially in steals.

Did you check the stats for the number of games he played ?

Playing that many games inflate the stats even if a small % of it is iffy, which most folks stats are.

Steals and blocks don't tell you who the best defender is anyway, or Allen Iverson would be called an all-time great defender!
Team defense tells you who the best is, that's why even 34-35-year-old Michael Jordan was a better defender than Scottie Pippen...
In 1997-98 Bulls opponents scored 89.6 points per game, but Pippen missed 35 games and in those games Bulls opponents only scored 88.2 points per game!
Compare that to 1995-96 Bulls opponents scored 92.9ppg, and 1996-97 Bulls opponents scored 92.3ppg.
The Bulls were a better defensive team without Scottie Pippen, because Michael Jordan took more responsibility and he's the greatest perimeter defender ever!

There's nothing particularly unusual about Stockton's home/away split (10.9 APG @ home compared with 10.1 APG away) compared to other great point guards of the past forty years. If his assist totals were getting juiced either it happened to almost every great point guard or they were getting juiced in away games too (for some unknown reason). The gap is probably better explained by team performance since teams tend to perform better at home than away.

And also if you adjust for the home / away gap for Stockton he loses only 375 assists so it really doesn't have a significant impact on his career totals.

What is NBA assist anyway? They count almost everything as assist in the NBA, it is most inflated stat for everyone, it is definitely not only Stockton problem.

It’s hilarious that people could watch the modern game and the stats that are given and complain about the 90s stats being juiced.

This has been talked about for years:

https://www.sportingnews.com/us/nba/news/john-stockton-stat-padding-controversy-fact-checking-nba-record/0de01a2471ee6b45d46c84fd

https://www.sltrib.com/sports/2019/05/17/its-an-nba-urban-legend/

https://www.basketballnetwork.net/latest-news/former-scorekeeper-admits-to-the-nba-padding-up-the-stats-in-the-90s

LeBron gets credit for an assist when he hands the ball to the ref.

One of the dumbest things in the NBA is that teams are responsible for keeping stats. Just a terrible, terrible way to do it.

In every era, you will find this kind of things.
Wilt Chamberlain is a good example.

You all miss the point of the OP

His pb is not Stockton, it is MJ as usual

I remember having this discussion back in the day when CP3 was at New Orleans. Some video clips showed that the stat keepers were really generous on what an assist was, but then we compared it to other players and noticed assists were a very generous stat for everybody.

Stockton got 4 assists by the time the ball tipped off.

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I love every era of basketball, they are all different.

But for sure the modern game favors offensive players and stats. That’s why it got so laughable a few seasons back with the amount of 70pt games.

Athletes today are incredible but let’s not hate on the past. Or forget that a 40 year old Stockton hung 40 on arenas.

They get an extra step today, and stat keeping is just as bad. How many times do you watch a game where the ball is swung and then the guy dribbles it, drives and an assist is given. But it is what it is.

Modern players already have a stat advantage over 90s players with the modern rules so please respect past eras

Fun fact: if Trae Young plays 70 games per year (including playoffs) until he is 40 he will pass Stockton on the all-time assist list at his current pace.

Just shows you how durable Stock was.

yeah because utah had a plan to lie about stats for 20 yrs to immortalize up a guy that looks like a math teacher.

even w/ the most assist and steals and as the nba most durable player ever....stockton is still underrated.
and its a damn shame.

If you were to go by his road split (10.1 apg) as his career average, he would still have over 15,000 assists and the record. He played 19 seasons, missed 22 games total, and Malone was his teammate. It's not unfathomable, he was an iron man.

Ah yes, another Scranton thread that's about hating on MJ but is disguised as something else.