John Stockton banned from Gonzaga games for refusing to wear a mask

John Stockton's support for anti-vax theories has become common knowledge over the last months.

He has been among the most prominent and influential former pro athletes to voice opposition to the shutdown measures, mask mandates, and vaccine requirements brought forth by the COVID-19 pandemic.

But the retired Utah Jazz point guard has just come to the forefront for a quite similar reason. As the NBA’s all-time assists and steals leader told The Spokesman-Review, Gonzaga suspended his season tickets for failing to comply with the mask mandate.

Stockton said Gonzaga Athletic Director Chris Standiford notified him of the university’s decision in a conversation he described as “congenial” but also “not pleasant.”



“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 said.

“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.”



The Naismith Memorial Hall-of-Famer is one of only two players who’s had his number retired by Gonzaga. He added that he didn’t think his relationship with the university was permanently fractured as a result of the suspension but suggested it could take time to repair.



During the interview, he went on with his theories, asserting that more than 100 professional athletes have died of vaccination. He also said tens of thousands of people – perhaps millions – have died from vaccines.



“I think it’s highly recorded now, there’s 150 I believe now, it’s over 100 professional athletes dead – professional athletes – the prime of their life, dropping dead that are vaccinated, right on the pitch, right on the field, right on the court,” Stockton said in the interview.

However, despite what Stockton maintains, no athletes' deaths have been reported as a result of the COVID vaccine. Furthermore, as of now, no peer-reviewed medical study has proven any correlation between the vaccine and severe illness or death.



Asked if he’d contemplated wearing a mask to keep his season tickets, Stockton responded, “Of course. You consider everything, every option when you’re presented with something like that, and I considered it in great detail.”