Honoring Stockton: Jazz to retire jersey No. 12

Another one of those moments John Stockton dreads, when everybody makes a public fuss over him individually, comes up two months from today.

The Utah Jazz have chosen Nov. 22 to retire Stockton's No. 12 jersey and raise it to the rafters along with those of Pete Maravich, Mark Eaton, Jeff Hornacek, Darrell Griffith and former coach/GM/president Frank Layden.

"Oh, I think he'll show up, but it will be tough for him, I think, because he's not into that sort of stuff," said Jazz coach Jerry Sloan, who became Layden's assistant coach about four months after Stockton was taken by Utah with the 16th pick of the 1984 NBA Draft.

Four years later, Sloan was head coach, and Stockton was an NBA all-star well on the way to becoming the all-time league leader in assists (15,806) and steals (3,265), being named one of the 50 greatest players in NBA history and making the original Olympic gold-medal-winning "Dream Team" in 1992.

"John never played basketball for individual awards or accolades," added Sloan. "He played basketball because he enjoyed it and loved playing. That's (the number-retirement ceremony) just part of what's going to happen because of the way he did play."

The Jazz made the NBA playoffs in every season that Stockton was on the roster.

Sloan has admiration for Stockton that extends well beyond the team. "He's just a wonderful guy, a family man," he said. "If you drew up a plan for a guy to be, I think he'd have to be one that you'd put at the top."

Added Jazz owner Larry H. Miller, "We are excited to honor John in this special way. After spending his entire 19-year career with the franchise, John's incredible athleticism deserves to be memorialized. We look forward to hosting him and his family on Nov. 22. The evening will certainly be memorable."

Stockton retired following the 2002-03 season, after 1,504 games in a Jazz uniform, telling Sloan and Miller during his postseason "exit" meeting on locker cleanout day but not informing players, not even 18-year teammate Karl Malone, who was shocked to hear the news second-hand.

He did tell reporters, "I think I'm finished," but never said the "R" word. Someone asked what he'd miss most, and he bolted before much emotion could show, blurting, "I don't know. That's good. Thanks," as he walked out of their lives.