The Story Behind Stockton & Malone 

In the '98 Finals, I had a bet with my roommate. He would buy me lunch if the Jazz won and he would get lunch from me if the Bulls won. That last lunch that I had to buy him was the hardest. Amazing basketball by Stockton to Malone, but it just fell short. On another note, Sloan never getting a Coach of the Year award is also tragic.

John Stockton and Karl Malone are true Champions.

when the greats say the Stockton and Malone duos pick n roll was the best. you know its good. I've heard Shaq, Barkley and Kenny go on and on about just that.

Salute to Utah Jazz, Stockton and Malone era💪

1998 was the funnest and most heartbreaking year in Utah. Finals appearance from the Jazz a final four run by the Utah Utes both losing in the championship. Still hurts.

honestly, there was SO much good basketball being played back then. ♥

Beside Michael Jordan & Scottie Pippen duo, the Karl Malone & John Stockton duo is in my book regarded as the best duo of all time. 100% THE best that never won a championship, despite 2 valid efforts against the dynasty Chicago Bulls. They NEVER missed the play-offs, was season by season a strong team and they where near always All-Star selected players and so much more. RESPECT is the word. The West with San Antonio Spurs and the Houston Rockets was deadly rivals in there era.

The Rockets, who ranged from mediocre to good-but-not-great, during Hakeem’s tenure will tell you that the championships were absolutely worth any sustained success. That’s what the game is all about.

i loved them when I was a kid. they will be my basketball heroes, always. also, Stockton is a very upstanding guy in life. hard worker, family man, has priciples.

It’ll be glossed over by Revisionist History, but the ‘98 Finals was much closer than it has been remembered.

If they didn’t face Michael Jordan in them 2 NBA Finals the Utah Jazz would have 2 championships! But instead they met the greatest basketball player that ever step foot on the basketball court. And that’s how the cookie crumbled. It’s too bad for the jazz,, they were a great team.

Been watching theScore since the old TV days and been following since - absolutely love that you're not only still around but excelling in these NBA story pieces. Y'all are the best, keep it up!!! ❤

I remember watching game 6 finals rematch with bulls and Jazz. Was so mad at tussle slipping up. Was a huge Jazz fan back then.

I seem to remember Malone having the longest damn free throw ritual ever. Like c'mon man, just shoot the ball!! Lol

This channel really is under appreciated. You deserve a lot more subs

This is quality content I'm looking for. Informative, entertaining and the perfect length

Great video. Those finals losses have left holes in my heart forever.

I’m so surprised with what you guys have done telling these stories 10/10

A great video Sir! Very well done! It brought tears to my eyes! I watched most of those Jazz games throughout the last 40 years. It's amazing how much of everything in this video I remember.

It’s a shame this duo never won a chip. Probably the greatest duo to never have done it

I really love the theme music for this series. Well done

How the hell does this channel not have more than 100k subs. Bruh..

Love your channel. glad i found it. been binge watching it.

This channel deserves so much credit. Super well done. +1sub

I could be wrong, but the Jazz roster really didn’t have much continuity until the mid 90’s. And when their starting roster began to form, they never really addressed bench depth. Then again, for some reasons some players really hate playing in Utah, and would not want to sign with the Jazz or be traded there. I vividly recall Derek Harper (the with the Mavs) rejected a trade to the Jazz before the deadline in 1997. I believe the Jazz could have a better chance in beating the Bulls that year, if they had a much better vet at the point when Stockton was resting.

I was able to watch many nba games in the 90's, even from europe. I was not a fan of the UJ team, don't know why. Maybe the name or jerseys were not appealing. I do liked this duo very much. They were the way i like them. Cold and deadly. John was a methodic block of ice and the mailman was a ripped machine that only a few tried to block.

There is one thing people alwasy fail to mention. Sacramento, Salt Lake City and few other places are too small to be able to be profitable for NBA to have as champions. They usually had to go against refs and also the entire NBA corporation in order to win the title, and they never did. No one wanted to play there, and they were never given a chance of any super team. I know Karl Malone and Stockton were, but imaging them with true support like Jordan had in Pipen, Rodman, Kukoc (best EU player at the time), Horace Grant (early years), Kerr etc. They had deep bench and could always have 3,4 superstars on the teams, while Utah was only having 2 superstars and few OK players ( Hornasek, Anerson). They had no bench and no center at all (even Longley looked like a pro next to that mullet wearing cowboy Ostertag). It doesn't matter if it was a faul, pushing of the leg or whatever else, the whole series was pushed right from the first game, and besides that blow out game the others were very close, with no help from refs maybe Bulls woulda won it anyways, but you can't play against the entire corporation of NBA and win the title. That's why NBA is and was always rigged. Find online The Greatest Tragedy in Sports (they removed it from RU-vid) and you'll see what I am talking about.

My favourite Duo will always be Shawn Kemp & Gary Payton, but you can’t deny the success Malone & Stockton had

Stockton & Malone: the unambiguously fab duo!

Stockton and Malone would’ve won on any other era where MJ didn’t play on the Bulls.

"The mailman doesn't deliver on Sundays." I will never forget that commentary.

Its amazing to think stockton is number 1 in all time steals and assists and he wasnt even a starter for his first few seasons

It’s a really great video. Stockton and Malone didn’t fail to win a championship because of Stockton and Malone. It was because even though they had really good role players, they never had a third guy who could get them a bucket when they needed it. Some championship teams have 5 or 6 guys like that, instead of just 2.

great video

I grew up watching the team. I went to dozens of games, including a few playoff games, in the old Delta Center (which is now the renovated Vivint Arena). I was even at Clyde Drexler's final NBA game when the Jazz eliminated the Rockets in 1998. A lot of memories, but the team could never finish when it mattered most.

Malone's Draft Day fit is 🔥

one of the best duets

90's kids Stockton to Malone.

Maan, yall coulda at least mentioned the head to head with stock and magic in the '88 WCF... He outdid Magic head to head.

Plenty of championship teams will be forgotton over time but Malone, Stockton and Barkley never will be.

If only Utah had Mark Eaton in his prime during the Finals

Like Sacramento, they were on the wrong side of some critical calls in the playoffs.

That Pippen rim grab looked super questionable.

The one name that doomed Stockton and Malone's championship dream. Needs no introduction, Michael Jordan, did it twice.

Stockton and Malone never got a ring because the Bulls were a better defensive team and they were able to outscore the Jazz in key matchups caused by Phil Jackson's triangle offense that put players like Dennis Rodman and Tony Kukoach in position to keep the games always within 5 points. Still a shame they never got at least one title.

Imagine how things would have turned out had the Jazz not traded Dominique Wilkins to the Hawks for a few BUMS and cash, and had Center Mark Eaton to face off against MJ and the Bulls in those 2 years in the Finals?!! I feel confident in saying that Utah would have at least one championship in the 90’s!!

Dope 🏀

Mailman don’t deliver on sundy 😈💨

Anytime my Hawks played these two I was scared.

always the bridesmaid and never the bride, your word play is unmatched at the end.

JORDAN PUSHED OFF! 😂🤣😂🤣

These 2 great (Duo's) watched them destroying team after teams 👍👍👍👍

Do one of these on the reggie miller pacers.

Legend has it that Byron Russell is still trying to heal from that broken ankle in game 6 of those Finals against MJ. 😎

90s we’re the best era in basketball in my book. Legendary teams that had complete rosters.

Bryon Russell stayed getting game winners scored on him

13 years old

Bryon Russell was the Craig Ehlo against Jordan

If the Jazz kept The Human Highlight Reel they would have won at least one title.

Maybe they can win this first in-season tournament 😂...a nice cup 🥤 and some money 💰..

Imagine having wilkins malone and Stockton on your team

Scottie Pippen whispers in Karl Malone ears in the last seconds both missed free throws, "the mailman don't deliver on Sundays

idk if you wanna look TOO deep into the story behind karl malone. stockton is cool though

been to a jazz game before and lemme tell u, it’s loud as fuck, to the point you can’t hear yourself.

Byron Russell MJ nemesis LOL!

RIP Mark Eaton

But we all know that Bulls will win it all even before the season starts. Pretty stacked team!

They needed a wing they coulda traded some assets for a decent wing

Jazz needed someone to replace Mark Eaton properly. I can understand all salary cap issues, however, Jazz should've gone with something I would call a 'Euro hack'. We all know that Americans disregard European basketball players because they're European, it hasn't changed in freakin 30 plus years. At the same time, it makes them get European players for cheaper. Bulls signed Toni Kukoc, a point forward from Croatia. He was one of the best European players at that time. He was relatively dear, however, not as dear as he was actually worth. I think Jazz had to try hard to get Arvydas Sabonis. They would've got a 7'3" point center with incredible stretch, low post, pass vision and rim protection. Because of those stereotypes, a giant European wasn't as expensive as he actually had to be even though he used to give a hard time to David Robinson at World Cup and Olympics.

15:20 that's not Pippen's fault. Anderson missed that layup badly.

0:39 number 21 has to be lil nas x dad 😂

John stockton my GOAT Pg

Can you do Jason Williams?

The damn shove off…

The story behind special Olympics Texas area 20

The Jazz should have won one of the finals series against the Bulls. But the Bulls had a third hall of famer, Rodman, who was the difference in both of those series

Utah jazz da besy

Biggest duo choker

Those two were always my favorites (mind you this was at a time when Jordan was the best). That counts more than any championship in my books. Lost interest in basketball after 98.

Jaylen Brown next video theScore 🙏🙏🙏

Who????? Who are these Jurassic players?

How about all the teams that fell to the Celtics in the 60's. Those are the breaks. Sometimes you have to kick the door down.

"choke job" how disrespectful

A cultural song brought me here

This video would've been 10 minutes if this guy spoke at a normal pace

man whats with jazz and succesfull regular but bitter post season

Don't disrespect my man BRYON Russell like that! It's not Byron pal!

You should’ve added the 99 team on here too. The Mailman was MVP and they loss to the blazers in the second round.

Jazz lost all those years with limited budget....heck MJ's 98 salary was bigger than the entire Jazz payroll...money talks...NBA didn't have the modern salary cap rules like the past 15 years...

I sometimes forget this sports athletes has so many surgeries on their bodies and come back like nothing. Derrick Rose should be called the bionic man after all those surgeries in both knees and he still playing. I remember when Kobe had that Achilles injury tear and saw what that meant and what surgery did.

19 times

The best duo to never win a championship. If it wasn't for Michael Jordan they would have won 2 championships.

The Jazz were GREAT. Only thing that stopped them was a dude named Michael Jeffrey Jordan

We're just gonna jazz hands over the pedophile and anti-vaxxer part? I mean come on they didn't even win a title /s

I started to watch this because I love basketball and it’s history but I was like damn I don’t really care about the jazz 😂

First comment 💪🏾💪🏾

Cant go vs the will of the league and the refs , been true then still is true today. Rigged league

Jordan had scottie to destroy the jazz, but Hakeem didn't have nobody, and he destroyed the jazz, all by himself.

This is not some crazy right wing conspiracy dude. But the truth is the NBA and even the Jazz were privey to the fact that the NBA would loose millions if the Jazz won the championship. They took a dive so Jordon could retire as a legend. Making Billions for Jordon and the NBA. After retiring Antoine Carr (former Jazz player) spilled the beans on a local Utah radio show. Not only that, a prominent Utah congressman went to a party with the Bulls players, Finals referees and NBA executives. This was a contract and agreement between Jazz ownership and the NBA to make up for the fix. Utah was granted the NBA all star game in Salt Lake City.

I wish Utah moved to St Louis back in the days