Gonzaga suspends season tickets of John Stockton, its most famous alum

John Stockton has been a fixture at Gonzaga basketball home games for years, but that will soon change. The school recently suspended Stockton’s season tickets because of his unwillingness to comply with its mask mandate.

The NBA Hall of Famer and former Gonzaga point guard has been outspoken against COVID-19 vaccines, shutdown measures and mask mandates. He even made an appearance in a documentary last June titled “COVID and the Vaccine: Truth, Lies and Misconceptions Revealed.”

Stockton last attended a game on Jan. 8, when the Zags took on Pepperdine.

“Basically, it came down to, they were asking me to wear a mask to the games and being a public figure, someone a little bit more visible, I stuck out in the crowd a little bit,” Stockton told the Spokane Spokesman-Review. “And therefore they received complaints and felt like from whatever the higher-ups – those weren’t discussed, but from whatever it was higher up – they were going to have to either ask me to wear a mask or they were going to suspend my tickets.”

During his interview with the newspaper, Stockton attempted to explain his stance on vaccines. He claimed that more than 100 professional athletes have died from vaccination, but provided no evidence to back it up. The point guard also said college-aged students have “literally zero statistical risk of being harmed by the disease.”

Gonzaga University released a statement saying it “continues to work hard to implement and enforce the health and safety protocols.” In that statement, the school confirmed those who attend Zags home games are required to wear masks at all times. However, it did not specifically mention Stockton or the season ticket suspension.

Stockton played for the Bulldogs from 1980-84 before the Utah Jazz selected him in the 1984 NBA draft. He enjoyed a long and successful career, leading the league in assists for nine straight seasons from 1987-96. He finished his career as a 10-time All-Star and 11-time All-NBA selection.

A Spokane native, John Stockton has a special connection to Gonzaga. Two of his children, David and Laura, enjoyed multi-year careers with the school. With this in mind, the Bulldogs legend stresses that he is not gone forever, planning to support the basketball program from afar.

He said he even considered wearing a mask so that he could still attend games, but ultimately decided against it.

“I think certainly it stresses (the relationship with Gonzaga). I’m pretty connected to the school,” Stockton said. “I’ve been part of this campus since I was probably 5 or 6 years old. I was just born a couple blocks away and sneaking into the gym and selling programs to get into games since I was a small boy. So, it’s strained but not broken, and I’m sure we’ll get through it, but it’s not without some conflict.”

However, unless the state and university withdraw the mask mandate, the earliest Stockton can make his return will be the 2022-23 season. The No. 1 Bulldogs are next scheduled to face Loyola-Marymount at 8 p.m. PT Thursday in Spokane.