[LOFTYParticipant]

do you think anyone will ever pass him? any active players?
http://weareutahjazz.com/2013/02/04/john-stockton-he-giveth-and-he-taketh-away/

[the27guyParticipant]

I saw this article too. Good read.

I was on a message board with some CP3 fans a few years back and they were each arguing that Chris Paul had a legit chance of passing Stockton. That’s when I knew that they were un-informed basketball fans and I ended the conversation.

I think the odds are extremely slim that ANYONE will break Stockton’s record, let alone anyone active. For a few reasons.

He played forever.
He never missed games
He won the Assist title year after year by and by a landslide most years
The game has changed to more one-on-one basketball and less PG pass driven. More PG score driven.

I actually don’t think anyone will ever pass Kidd.

The only way I can see it happen is if another Rubio type player comes out after his Freshman year and the team he goes to gives him 40 minutes out of the gate, and he has Westbrook like durability and Kidd like longevity…. That’s basically taking the best three attributes from the best three players I could find for those attributes.

In other words…. it’s probably not going to happen.

[3 No Biases 3Participant]

Definitely not any active players…Rondo and Paul may get over 10,000 assists but 15,000 is not within their reach…

I think the steals record will fall over time but the assist record may be untouchable especially now that true pass first PG’s are rare…

[invalidParticipant]

cool to see starbury at no.21 all time assists leader

[TallmanNYCParticipant]

They both seem untouchable. CP3 is definitely the best PG of his generation and he won’t reach it. Kidd was the best PG of his generation and came the closest in both stats, but is still far away and has only two more years in his career after this. And he isn’t putting up stats.

Stockton grabbed so many steals, it seems unlikely that anyone will match this.

Only way these fall is if pace of place changes dramatically and we end up in games where instead of each team getting about 95 possessions, they get around 110. Teams played like that in the 70s so that might become a strategy again. But right now it doesn’t look like it. Teams are more like to work the clock to set up the corner three or the cutting big man. That takes time and there just aren’t enough possessions in the game to get the assists. And teams aren’t sloppy enough with the ball for anyone to average more than 3 steals per game.

[Moon RiverParticipant]

D. Rose and R. Westbrook, two of the youngest and arguably best PG’s in this era are not event mentioned as possible threats to Stockton.

[DipoTimeParticipant]

I don’t see why it can’t be broken. Nash started playing when he was 23, wasn’t a starter until he was 25, didn’t play a full 82 game season until he was 28, and didn’t average double digit assists until he was 31! Just think if his career had gone perfectly. Players are coming out of college at younger ages. They are starting and putting up numbers at younger ages. They are breaking records faster and at younger ages. Medicine is getting better and athletes are training better to give them longer, healthier careers. To say it is untouchable is ridiculous. That is like saying well nobody will ever break the scoring record just because it is so high. All you need is for someone like LeBron or Durant to average a high amount of points for a very long time to have a chance. Kobe will realistically have a chance at breaking it. Why can’t CP3 or Rondo or Rubio? Who is to say that someone in the next 20 years can’t do it? Records are made to be broken and I think this one will as well

[DipoTimeParticipant]

Nash had 1400 assists when he was 27. He had almost 9000 assists after he turned 28. Paul is 27 and already has over 5000. Why can’t he get 10,000 more? It’s not like he lives off of athleticism and couldn’t play into his 40s

[the27guyParticipant]

DipoTime,

Good posts.

I would respond with two counter points.

#1) Do the math. Chris Paul has already been in the league for 7 1/2 years, which since he’s a human being, are most likely his healthiest 7 1/2 years. He has to get three times as many assists as he’s had in those 7 1/2 years. Do you really think it’s likely that he will maintain the health and assist ability of the first 7 1/2 for another 15 years?

#2) The assist record is not like the scoring record. Not even close. Karl Malone could have beaten the scoring record if that was his goal. Kobe, Lebron, and Durant are on pace by having 19-20 year careers. If you took the NBA assist leader today, 11.1 APG, Rajon Rondo, and he played all 82 games, every year (uhhh, problem there), it would take him 1424 games to pass Stockton. That’s leading the league, every year, and never missing a game for 17.4 seasons!

I agree with you, it’s not impossible…. but I do believe that it’s the most unbreakable record we have in the NBA excluding NBA championships as a player, by Bill Russell.

[ItsVictorOladipoParticipant]

DipoTime,

Good posts.

I would respond with two counter points.

#1) Do the math. Chris Paul has already been in the league for 7 1/2 years, which since he’s a human being, are most likely his healthiest 7 1/2 years. He has to get three times as many assists as he’s had in those 7 1/2 years. Do you really think it’s likely that he will maintain the health and assist ability of the first 7 1/2 for another 15 years?

#2) The assist record is not like the scoring record. Not even close. Karl Malone could have beaten the scoring record if that was his goal. Kobe, Lebron, and Durant are on pace by having 19-20 year careers. If you took the NBA assist leader today, 11.1 APG, Rajon Rondo, and he played all 82 games, every year (uhhh, problem there), it would take him 1424 games to pass Stockton. That’s leading the league, every year, and never missing a game for 17.4 seasons!

I agree with you, it’s not impossible…. but I do believe that it’s the most unbreakable record we have in the NBA excluding NBA championships as a player, by Bill Russell.
—————————————————————————————————————————————–

A couple of things, while I on the whole agree with you I have to say that I feel like it’s so difficult to say what records are and are not breakable because the style of play in the NBA is constantly changing and statistical trends are likewise changing. Even in the last 20 years, stats across the board have changed in a big way. Who knows what the next 20 or 30 years will bring, maybe the NBA will become extremely fast paced again and assists numbers will go through the roof.

I do agree that no current players will break the record though, I just can’t see it happening for the next little while.

IMO the most unbreakable career record (besides championships) is rebounding. Everyone lost it when Kevin Love averaged 15.2 RPG two years ago. But someone could play every game and average 15.2 RPG for 19 seasons and they would still be just shy of Wilt’s record of 23924 rebounds.

[Author]

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