It's official: John Stockton and Jerry Sloan have picked the guys they want to introduce them at their Hall of Fame induction ceremony tomorrow. Neither are conventional, although you have to pick from someone who's already in the hall, which narrows your choices a bit. Still, amazingly, Stock went with Isiah Thomas. Guess he didn't care much about that whole Dream Team controversy or the fact that Karl Malone laid Isiah out afterwards for it. Or maybe as a loyal Jazz fan Stockton just wants to thank the former Knicks GM for his gift of a draft pick we're going to get this year.
Sloan's pick was even more surprising: Charles Barkley. Turns out that all along Jerry has been down with guys who get in bar fights and lose $2.5 million in blackjack in one sitting. Actually, it turns out Barkley was Bobbye Sloan's favorite non-Jazz player, so he's really honoring her. Can't argue with that, but you can with any picture that shows Chuck measuring 6'7:
4 comments:
I think Stockton's pick is the MOST surprising, especially since Stockton classified Isaiah as a "class act." A Class Act? Sexual Harrassment? Destruction of a franchise? Dishing blame elsewhere? Refusing to play NC?
Isaiah is probably the last person in the Hall of Fame that I would have picked.
But whatever.
You make a good point. On the face of it Barkley and Sloan are less alike than Stockton and Isiah (both were great point guards of the same era). But when you unpack it, well, Stock and Isiah are two pretty different people.
Do you think this will be part of the highlight reel when Isiah speaks on Friday?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ocb4MFkDiAY
Stockton is the type of guy that would choose someone to introduce him based on basketball ability alone. I'll wager that he always admired Isaiah's game, and that's that. I doubt he has kept up on the Isaiah gossip page.
Somehow this pick endears me to Stockton even more. It's all about the game.
This won't truly have success, I think this way.
Post a Comment