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Though they may often be the smallest players on the court, great point guards can control the flow and have an outsized impact on the outcome of a basketball game. Along these lines, during the 1980s and 1990s, the diminutive floor generals John Stockton and Isiah Thomas each stood only a shade above six feet tall and weighed barely 170 to 180 pounds, yet were among the biggest and brightest stars in the Association; while the former was more of a pass-first point guard and the latter was a more dynamic scorer, each led their respective teams to unprecedented success. As we look back on this rugged era of NBA play and compare and contrast the careers of both players, we ask the question:
Who was better – John Stockton or Isiah Thomas?
The Beginning
Whereas Stockton was a relative unknown out of the Pacific Northwest and came into the NBA with modest expectations, Thomas was one of the most celebrated high school and college basketball stars of his generation and as a high lottery pick, immediately established himself as a future superstar.
Growing up in Spokane, Washington, Stockton went on to play high school basketball at Gonzaga Prep, where he set a city record for points scored in a single season. He chose to stay local for his college basketball at Gonzaga (well before the Bulldogs became a national powerhouse) and was a 2x First Team All-West Coast Conference selection (1983 and 1984); moreover, as a senior in 1984, he led the WCC in scoring, assists, and steals en route to WCC Player of the Year honors. Based on his outstanding collegiate career and strong workouts, Stockton was perhaps surprisingly selected 16th overall in the 1984 NBA Draft by the Utah Jazz – as a rookie, though, he primarily came off the bench to average 5.6 points and 5.1 assists per game. During the offseason, the Jazz would proceed to draft power forward Karl Malone in the first round, thus beginning a nearly 20-year partnership between the two players.
Meanwhile, as the youngest of nine kids growing up in inner-city Chicago, Thomas started playing basketball at age three and by his high school days, was regarded as one of the top players in the country and was named a 1979 McDonald’s All-American. Recruited by legendary coach Bob Knight to play for his blue-blood Indiana Hoosiers team, Thomas quickly became a star at the college level, which culminated in a spectacular 1981 sophomore year – in addition to being a First Team All-American, Thomas led Indiana to the national title and earned Final Four Most Outstanding Player in the process. At that point, Thomas declared for the NBA and was selected number two overall in the 1981 NBA Draft by the Detroit Pistons. He immediately became a starter as a rookie and averaged 17.0 points and 7.8 assists per game to make both the All-Rookie team and the first of a dozen straight All-Star Games.
Career Comparison
Unlike today’s stars who jump around from team to team in free agency, both Stockton and Thomas spent their entire careers with the franchises that drafted them, thus leaving behind indelible legacies with the Jazz and Pistons, respectively.
Stockton became the Jazz’s starting point guard in 1987-1988 and led the NBA that season with 13.8 assists per game while shooting a career-best 57.4% from the field to earn Second Team All-NBA honors; perfecting the art of the pick-and-roll with Malone, this marked the first of nine straight years in which Stockton led the NBA in assists, 10 straight years with double-digit assists, and also a decade of First, Second, or Third Team All-NBA selections. In fact, for a decade, Stockton would average at least 14 points, 10 assists, and 1.5 steals per game. The next season was his first of nine straight All-Star Game selections (and 10x overall), as he averaged 17.1 points, 13.6 assists, and a league-best 3.2 steals per game to also earn Second Team All-Defensive honors (5x overall). In 1989-1990, Stockton was again Second Team All-NBA with 17.2 points, a career-best 14.5 assists, and 2.7 steals per game. Notably, during the 1990-1991 season, he would post a career-high 28 assists in a January 1991 game vs. David Robinson and the San Antonio Spurs.
As he continued his remarkable consistent greatness, Stockton was finally honored with consecutive First Team All-NBA selections in the mid-1990s:
- 1993-1994: 15.1 points (52.8% shooting), 12.6 assists, and 2.4 steals per game
- 1994-1995: 14.7 points (54.2% shooting), 12.3 assists, and 2.4 steals per game
The 1996-1997 season would mark the last time Stockton averaged a double-double (14.4 points on 54.8% shooting with 10.5 assists); however, he continued to remain an effective player well into his late 30s, with his last All-Star season coming in 1999-2000 (12.1 points, 8.6 assists, and 1.7 steals per game). Finally, at age 40, Stockton retired at the end of the 2002-2003 season to end a remarkably durable career – he played all 82 games an astounding 16x, in addition to all 50 games in the lockout-shortened 1998-1999 season; in fact, there were only two seasons where he did not play a full season, 78 games in 1989-1990 and 64 games in 1997-1998.
During Thomas’ first dozen years in the NBA, he averaged at least 16 points, 7 assists,and 1.5 steals per game each season. The 1982-1983 season, his second in the NBA, was his highest scoring, as he averaged 22.9 points (on 47.2% shooting) to go with 7.8 assists and 2.5 steals per game to earn Second Team All-NBA honors, the first of five straight All-NBA seasons. This was followed by three straight First Team All-NBA seasons:
- 1983-1984: 21.3 points (46.2% shooting), 11.1 assists, and 2.5 steals per game; the first of four straight double-digit assist seasons
- 1984-1985: 21.2 points (45.8% shooting), a league-leading 13.9 assists per game, and 2.3 steals per game
- 1985-1986: 20.9 points (48.8% shooting), 10.8 assists, and 2.2 steals per game
Thomas’ last 20-and-10 season followed in 1986-1987, as he averaged 20.6 points (46.3% shooting), 10.0 assists, and 1.9 steals per game to again earn Second Team All-NBA honors. In the second half of the 1980s, he sacrificed some of his individual numbers for team success as part of Detroit’s “Bad Boys” teams that included the likes of Joe Dumars, Dennis Rodman, Bill Laimbeer, Rick Mahorn, and Vinnie Johnson. During the Piston’s back-to-back championship seasons (more on that shortly), Thomas was nevertheless still the engine that drove the team, averaging 18.2 points and 8.3 assists per game in 1988-1989 and 18.4 points and 9.4 assists per game in 1989-1990 (his best assists numbers post 1986-1987). Despite injuries, he continued to be an effective floor general into the early 1990s, with a final All-Star season coming in 1992-1993 (17.6 points, 8.5 assists, and 1.6 steals per game, though only 41.8% shooting). Deciding to retire after the 1993-1994 season, Thomas was averaging 14.8 points and 6.9 assists per game through April, but tore his Achilles tendon after 58 games, which effectively ended his NBA career at age 32.
While they never faced off against each other in the playoffs, Stockton and Thomas had 19 head-to-head matchups in the regular season. From a win-loss perspective, Stockton’s Jazz came out ahead with 11 wins vs. eight for the Pistons, but Thomas had the upper hand in their individual matchup, averaging 22.7 points (50.0% shooting), 3.6 rebounds, and 7.8 assists per game vs. Stockton’s 13.3 points (46.2% shooting), 2.5 rebounds, and 11.4 assists per game.
With his ironman health, Stockton played significantly longer in the NBA than Thomas (19 vs. 13 seasons and 500+ additional games); in terms of numbers, Thomas was by far the more dangerous scoring threat and a better rebounder from the point guard position, while Stockton was a much more efficient shooter and is the NBA’s all-time career leader in both assists and steals. Interestingly, despite playing six fewer seasons, Thomas has more career All-Star selections (12x to 10x), though Stockton has more than twice as many All-NBA nods (11 vs. 5) and was the better defensive player (5x All-Defensive). Advanced metrics view Stockton in a favorable light, as he has both the higher Player Efficiency Rating (PER) and significantly more Win-Shares, even when adjusted by length of career. Overall, as two of the best point guards of the 1980s and 1990s, both Stockton and Thomas were rightfully inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in their first year of eligibility (2009 for Stockton and 2000 for Thomas).
Regular Season Statistics
| John Stockton | Player | Isiah Thomas |
| 19 (1984-2003) | Seasons | 13 (1982-1994) |
| 1,504 | Games Played | 979 |
| 13.1 | Points | 19.2 |
| 2.7 | Rebounds | 3.6 |
| 10.5 | Assists | 9.3 |
| 2.2 | Steals | 1.9 |
| 51.5% | Field Goal % | 45.2% |
| 38.4% | 3-Point % | 29.0% |
| 82.6% | Free Throw % | 75.9% |
| 21.8 | PER | 18.1 |
| 207.7 | Win Shares | 80.7 |
| 10x | All-Star Games | 12x |
| 11x | All-NBA | 5x |
| – | MVP | – |
| – | NBA Titles | 2x |
| – | NBA Finals MVP | 1x |
| 5x All-Defensive | Other Awards | All-Rookie |
| 2009 | Hall of Fame Induction | 2000 |
Source: Basketball-Reference.com
Both Stockton and Thomas led their respective franchises to unprecedented postseason success – the Jazz became perennial championship contenders during the Stockton and Malone era, while Thomas propelled the Pistons to back-to-back championships.
In Stockton’s 19-year NBA career, he led the Jazz to the playoffs every single season, though could not quite win that elusive title. This included 10x leading the playoffs in assists, including seven straight years from 1987-1988 to 1993-1994 and a career-best 15.0 assists per game in the 1990 playoffs. In terms of team success, the Jazz would make it to the Western Conference Finals for the first time in 1992 before falling to Clyde Drexler and the Portland Trail Blazers despite Stockton’s 14.8 points, 13.6 assists, and 2.1 steals per game. Then, during an era dominated by Michael Jordan and the Bulls, the closest Utah came to an NBA title was back-to-back NBA Finals appearances:
- 1997: lost to the Bulls in six games; Stockton averaged 16.1 points and 9.6 assists per game during the Finals
- 1998: again lost to the Bulls in six games, with Stockton averaging 11.1 points and 7.8 assists per game during the series. In the series-clinching Game 6, Stockton made a three-pointer with 41.9 seconds left to give the Jazz the lead, but Jordan proceeded to make two baskets to put Chicago up 87-86; Stockton then missed a potential game-winning three-pointer with 5.2 seconds left as the Bulls emerged victorious once again
A decade prior, Thomas led the Pistons to nine straight playoff appearances from 1983-1984 to 1991-1992. Detroit’s first Finals appearance came in 1988 vs. Magic Johnson and the Los Angeles Lakers, where they fell in seven games; despite a severely sprained ankle in Game 6, Thomas set a single-quarter NBA playoff record with 25 points, but the Lakers still won the game, and eventually the series. Nevertheless, sandwiched between the Bird/Magic Lakers vs. Celtics rivalry of the 1980s and Jordan’s dominance with the Bulls in the 1990s, Thomas helped Detroit win back-to-back titles at the end of the decade:
- 1989: in a rematch vs. the Lakers, the Pistons would get their revenge in a sweep, with Thomas averaging 21.3 points and 7.3 assists per game in the Finals
- 1990: beat the Trail Blazers in five games; Thomas earned Finals MVP on the strength of 27.6 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 7.0 assists per game
Though he never won an NBA title, Stockton represented Team USA with distinction on the international stage, winning gold medals at both the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona as part of the original Dream Team and at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, both times playing alongside his longtime teammate Malone. On the other hand, while at Indiana, Thomas was part of the national team for the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow (back when the basketball team was still comprised of amateurs), but the US ended up boycotting for political reasons; later on, he was also infamously left off the original Dream Team in 1992 due to beef with some of the game’s other biggest stars, e.g. Jordan.
Playoff Statistics
| John Stockton | Player | Isiah Thomas |
| 182 | Games Played | 111 |
| 13.4 | Points | 20.4 |
| 3.3 | Rebounds | 4.7 |
| 10.1 | Assists | 8.9 |
| 1.9 | Steals | 2.1 |
| 47.3% | Field Goal % | 44.1% |
| 32.6% | 3-Point % | 34.6% |
| 81.0% | Free Throw % | 76.9% |
| 19.8 | PER | 19.8 |
| 21.4 | Win Shares | 12.5 |
Source: Basketball-Reference.com
Every athlete goes through a natural career lifecycle, from starting off as a rookie to reaching peak years of performance and finally, declining into the inevitable retirement due to a combination of age and/or injury; Stockton was still a good, but no longer great player into his late 30s, while wear-and-tear and injuries eventually wore down Thomas and led to his somewhat early retirement. For Hall of Fame caliber players across sports, I like to look at a concept I call a “decade of dominance.” The thinking behind this is that for most Hall of Fame type careers, there are roughly 10 great seasons that define an athlete (this idea is embodied in a sense by the NFL’s All-Decade teams), though due to injury or other factors, they might not be 10 consecutive years.
Decade of Dominance
| John Stockton | Player | Isiah Thomas |
| 1987-1997 | Decade of Dominance | 1982-1992 |
| 816 | Games Played | 770 |
| 15.6 | Points | 19.9 |
| 2.9 | Rebounds | 3.7 |
| 12.8 | Assists | 9.6 |
| 2.6 | Steals | 2.0 |
| 52.4% | Field Goal % | 46.0% |
| 39.2% | 3-Point % | 28.4% |
| 82.9% | Free Throw % | 77.0% |
| 22.7 | PER | 18.9 |
| 135.8 | Win Shares | 74.6 |
Source: Basketball-Reference.com
All in all, no big surprises across the decades of dominance – Thomas was still the more dangerous scorer vs. Stockton being the superior facilitator and more efficient shooter. Perhaps the biggest surprise is in the advanced metrics – even looking at only their ten best years, Stockton’s Win-Shares total is close to double that of Thomas’.
My Thoughts
This comparison is an interesting one due to the stark differences between John Stockton and Isiah Thomas – Western vs. Eastern Conference, pass-first vs. shoot-first, white vs. black. Undoubtedly, Stockton was the better pure passer and more tenacious defensive player, and if you subscribe to the philosophy that the best ability is availability, then his durability and consistency certainly work in his favor as well. However, despite his shorter career and unfavorable view by advanced metrics, I think Thomas was the more dominant player – whereas Stockton had a symbiotic relationship with Karl Malone that elevated each player’s game, he was never viewed as the alpha dog of the Jazz and could not necessarily take over a game or series in the same way that Thomas could as the unquestioned leader of the Pistons (see the 1990 NBA Finals as a prime example). Moreover, though they never faced off in the playoffs, when the two point guards did meet head-to-head, Thomas generally had the upper hand, including a few 40-point performances.
Thus, after weighing their careers against each other in terms of statistics, achievements, and impact, the winner of this faceoff is:
Isiah Thomas
As always, vote for your choice and leave your thoughts and comments below.
Further Reading
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