Isiah Thomas vs John Stockton.

[ClutchCity95]

I was the one who made the Vote for the #1 PG of all-time thread not counting Magic Johnson and John Stockton won the voting by pretty much a landslide, in my opinion Stockton shouldn't have won at all, but It's an opinion. Just like this comparison is an opinion and I am curious on all of your thoughts.

In my book, I have Isiah above Stockton but there are reasonable opinions to take Stockton above Isiah. I'd also like to add that it's a myth that Isiah wasn't a real PG, he had 4 straight seasons of double-figure APG.

Before, I felt like Stockton was the better player, but I took a look at Isiah's stats and what impressed me the most was the APG. Just like others, I believed the myth that Isiah was more of a scoring PG than a passing PG and Isiah wasn't that good of a passer. Silly me. I'm not a guy that looks at stats too much, but it does give you a good indication of things.

However, as an all-around player I say Stockton has the edge. He just played better defense, was the better shooter and pretty much was the better passer. The thing is Isiah had the capability of making the Clutch shots, in a Michael Jordan way, which would involve creating off the dribble. When Stockton hit big shots, It was like the way Reggie Miller would hit his. Off of screens, 1 dribble, not much creating. Along with that and the hardware, I think that's what separates Isiah to Stockton.

Isiah also had the intangibles as many others have said as well, The killer instinct was just so pure.


So..........

-Who was the better player according to you guys?

[AllenIverson3]

Isiah Thomas for me.. Stockton is top 5 all time though

[magnax1]

Stockton was a better passer, at least as good of a jump shooter, as good as defense. As good or better at basically everything but scoring.

[ProfessorMurder]

I'd also like to add that it's a myth that Isiah wasn't a real PG, he had 4 straight seasons of double-figure APG. So..........

Yeah and Stockton had 10 straight seasons of 10+ assists per game, and averaged 10.5 per game over a 6 year longer career than Isiah.

Stockton is better in almost every category other than scoring.

I'd pick Stockton 10 times out of 10.

[Rekindled]

Yeah and Stockton had 10 straight seasons of 10+ assists per game, and averaged 10.5 per game over a 6 year longer career than Isiah.

Stockton is better in almost every category other than scoring.

I'd pick Stockton 10 times out of 10.

rofl stockton had the mailman to feed assists too. Isiah was the best pure passer in nba history. he is also more clutch, a lot tougher on defense and carried his teams to championships.

stockton has rarely (or never) carried his team in clutch situations. that's why his team was never relavent till the nba enters the watered down era in late 90s.

[Al Thornton]

Stockton by far.

[Luigi]

rofl stockton had the mailman to feed assists too. Isiah was the best pure passer in nba history. he is also more clutch, a lot tougher on defense and carried his teams to championships.

Isiah was a better pure passer than Stockton...

[magnax1]

rofl stockton had the mailman to feed assists too. Isiah was the best pure passer in nba history. he is also more clutch, a lot tougher on defense and carried his teams to championships.

stockton has rarely (or never) carried his team in clutch situations. that's why his team was never relavent till the nba enters the watered down era in late 90s.

This statement comes from a person who has never seen stockton, and maybe Isiah Thomas play basketball. sad.

[Rekindled]

rofl. explain how stockton only averaged 1 more assist than Isiah when he had mailman.

[Bush4Ever]

The OP asked this question on the ESPN board a few times. I go back and forth in my mind on it.

If you do a skill breakdown, Stockton is better in passing, defense, and shooting, while Isiah was easily the more explosive scorer. To me, that would indicate Stockton was better.

However, when you are ranking the elite of the elite, team success IMO has to come into play somewhere, and that clearly favors Isiah. 1989 and 1990, and Isiah's performances therein give him a small edge, IMO.

Really, I think my summation would be that Stockton was better in most things that you can quantify, and that Isiah was better in things you can't quantify. How you balance those forces is up to you.

It's close though.

[magnax1]

rofl. explain how stockton only averaged 1 more assist than Isiah when he had mailman.

Reason 1-He played way past his prime, Isiah played 12 seasons, stockton19.
Reason 2- What does Malone have to do with this. Explain Why Thomas only average 9 when he had Dantley, Dumars, Lambeer, and Vinnie Johnson to feed to? You logic is flawed.

[Bush4Ever]

rofl. explain how stockton only averaged 1 more assist than Isiah when he had mailman.

One often ignored factor is that during Isiah's prime years for assists, the overall pace of the game was faster PLUS he played for a fairly fast paced team relative to the era (the Pistons were 4th in pace when Isiah set the assist record).

By contrast, during Stockton's prime, the game was slowing down somewhat, PLUS he generally played on teams that were average to slow in pace, relative to the league.

[Yung D-Will]

Isiah I think was the better overall player but if you talk about Longevity it's a whole different story.

[Luigi]

rofl. explain how stockton only averaged 1 more assist than Isiah when he had mailman.

I can't believe I am answering this.

Isiah had one season at 13.9. The Pistons' offensive pace factor was 105.
Stockton had five seasons in the teens at pace factors of 101.5, 98, 96.1, 95.3, and 95.5.

Stockton had a higher best, and 8 more seasons better than Isiah's second best year. This is as disproportionate as it gets.

[fos]

Both great players, it depends really on what style of PG play you want. I'm a Stockton guy myself but you can't go wrong with either. Isiah was a tremendous player.