Jamal Murray joked that John Stockton couldn't score like him, and he's absolutely right
When you rank the best guard and big pairings in NBA history, who are the first names that come to mind?
Most basketball fans will probably list some of the greats like Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal, Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Bob Cousy and Bill Russell, or John Stockton and Karl Malone.
If you’re receiving comparisons to any of those legends, you’re probably doing something right.
David Adelman, the assistant coach for the Nuggets who is filling in for Mike Malone after the head coach entered the league’s health and safety protocols, mentioned Denver’s star duo of Jamal Murray and Nikola Jokic alongside the likes of longtime Utah Jazz stars Stockton and Malone.
"It's like watching Stockton and Malone."
David Adelman on Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray after Denver's 8th straight win pic.twitter.com/AlRMjEuv9z
— NBA (@NBA) January 19, 2023
It was obviously meant as a compliment considering Stockton and Malone are both Hall of Famers who made 24 combined All-Star appearances. Murray, however, made an important observation about the comparison.
Murray smiled and said that he didn’t think Stockton could score as well as he can for the Nuggets, and he isn’t wrong!
Nuggets coach David Adelman compared Jamal Murray and Nikola Jokic to John Stockton and Karl Malone.
Jamal Murray: "I don't think Stockton could score like me." pic.twitter.com/jMQMRTERk8
— HoopsHype (@hoopshype) January 19, 2023
Stockton averaged 13.1 points per game during his career whereas Murray has eclipsed that in each of his five professional seasons as a regular starter for the Nuggets.
During the 1,504 regular-season games that he played during his career, the Jazz guard notched at least 30 points on 11 occasions. Murray, meanwhile, has played just 383 regular-season games and he has already recorded three times as many 30-point performances.
Murray, similarly, has scored 6,353 points during his NBA career thus far. After the same number of games in the NBA, Stockton had logged 3,834.
Stockton, of course, is widely considered one of the best passers and most productive playmakers in league history. Murray, however, was well within his right to note the difference in comparative scoring prowess.