John Stockton

“I was always the kid dribbling the ball on the sidelines, hoping someone would pick me. I'd go with my older brother to the gym or park, and when I went out there, I'd pass the ball so I could get picked again.”

“You can't afford to hop around and act like a kid when you have to get back on defense and worry about the other parts of the game. But at the end, when the buzzer sounds, you have the luxury of hopping around and looking foolish for a while.”

“I think I laid it all out there for 19 years, and you don't always achieve all the goals that you shoot for.”

“I'm not much of a numbers guy, and yet that's the way I'm defined a lot.”

“Sometimes you're your own worst critic.”

“I'm not a cerebral player. When I'm out on the floor, I try to play.”

“I know my first years sitting on the bench, largely behind Rickey Green, was a great learning tool for me.”

“I was thinking back when Karl Malone and I, when one of us would be in the weight room early in the morning, and the other one wasn't there, the first comment to the other person would be, 'It's mighty lonely up here.'”

“The key word is 'control.' I have to get to the point where I can do it like Magic does. That means penetrating, scoring more, taking over on offense once in a while, increasing my range on the outside shot to open things up for the drive.”

“I love to play, and I appreciate the opportunity to be part of a good organization.”

“Depending on the point in the game and what's necessary, if you can deliver the play, whatever that is - heck, if it's a screen - and you get a guy open, and he scores a big basket for you, that gives me as much of a charge as anything.”

“Usually for the last play, everyone goes helter-skelter. They go to the wrong spots. They don't do the right thing.”

“The West is tough. Great teams. Great records, top to bottom.”

“To be a great player and a great scorer, you have to find ways to get yourself open and get shots off. It's a dog fight.”

“If I could turn into my old coaches, or my parents, then I'd consider that a definite plus.”

“I think records are irrelevant, but I'm being approached about it all the time. If I could avoid it, that would be great.”

“If you start chasing around trying to get steals for your own benefit, then you really put your defense at a disadvantage. It's not a big thing for me; if it happens, great.”

“When you're younger, you might make some shots you're not normally capable of, because you're more fluid, maybe stronger, maybe faster. As you get older, you learn not to take those crazy shots.”

“I really don't look at my accomplishments. I really don't think about myself much.”

“I have an ego like everyone else. I want to be recognized as a good ballplayer.”