John Stockton is still, arguably, the best pure point guard in NBA history, as well as a star player while at Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington. So when Gonzaga suspended his season tickets over his refusal to wear a mask while attending games more than a few eyebrows were raised.

Stockton's views are, let's say, somewhat controversial. That is to say, batshit crazy. “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.

Source: The Spokesman-Review

On any night, John Stockton’s name and No. 12 jersey can be seen hanging from a banner in the south-facing rafters at McCarthey Athletic Center. But Gonzaga and its most prominent alumnus are at odds over the school’s mask mandate, leading Gonzaga to suspend Stockton’s season tickets at home basketball games.

In an interview with The Spokesman-Review on Saturday at The Warehouse – the Spokane-based gym Stockton has owned since 2002 – the NBA’s all-time assists and steals leader, and one of only two players who’s had his number retired by Gonzaga, confirmed the university’s decision to suspend 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 the Naismith Basketball Memorial Hall of Fame point guard described as “congenial” but also “not pleasant.”

And how far out there are John Stockton's views on COVID, masks, and the vaccines? Pretty damn far out there.

During the interview, Stockton asserted 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.

Such claims are dubious and not backed by science, nor are they deemed credible by medical professionals, according to FactCheck.org, a project of The Annenberg Public Policy Center, and research reported by PolitiFact, which is run by the Poynter Institute.

Apparently, this has been an ongoing problem the entire pandemic and the university had finally had enough, even if it meant banning perhaps their most famous alumnus.