Legendary former NBA star John Stockton has been banned from attending games at Gonzaga University after being noncompliant with his alma mater’s indoor mask mandate.
Gonzaga’s most famous alum confirmed his season tickets were revoked after he was spotted missing from his usual spot at Gonzaga’s McCarthey Athletic Center in Washington State when the university’s Bulldogs beat San Francisco on Thursday.
‘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, 59, told The Spokesman Review.
The Naismith Basketball Memorial Hall of Fame point guard said the exchange between him and the university had been polite but still ‘unpleasant.’
Stockton, who has been very outspoken about his negative to comply with mask and vaccine requirements, will be banned from games at least until the 2022-23 season.
Legendary former NBA player John Stockton confirmed his season tickets to attend games at his alma mater Gonzaga University were revoked due to his noncompliance to the university’s indoor mask mandate. Above, Stockton, looks on during a game in November, 2021
Stockton played for Gonzaga from 1980 to 1984 and went one to become the university’s most famous athlete alum
Stockton was spotted missing from his usual spot at Gonzaga’s McCarthey Athletic Center in Washington State when the university’s Bulldogs beat San Francisco on Thursday
In a statement, Gonzaga officials said they are committed to implementing health and safety protocols, which include an indoor mask mandate.
The statement read: ‘Gonzaga University continues to work hard to implement and enforce the health and safety protocols mandated by the State and by University policy, including reinforcing the indoor masking requirement. Attendees at basketball games are required to wear face masks at all times.’
‘The recent decision to suspend concessions in McCarthey Athletic Center is an example of this approach.’
Gonzaga reinstated an indoor mask mandate for indoor events in the university in August amid a surge of COVID-19 cases of the Delta variant.
Attendees 12 and older are required to either show proof that they’re fully vaccinated against the virus, or a negative test taken a maximum of three days prior to attending the event.
Snacks service during the event has also been paused to decrease the chances of spectators potentially becoming infected with the virus.
The legendary point guard, whose number was retired both by the Jazz and Gonzaga in 2004, also appeared on the controversial documentary ‘COVID and the Vaccine: Truth, Lies and Misconceptions Revealed’
More than 75percent of the US population has received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine
Stockton, who played for the Utah Jazz during his tenure from 1984 to 2003, has repeatedly made false and egregious claims about the spread of COVID-19.
In the interview with the Spokane newspaper, Stockton claimed without evidence that more than 100 professional athletes have died after receiving the COVID-19 vaccine.
‘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.
The legendary point guard, whose number was retired both by the Jazz and Gonzaga in 2004, also appeared on the controversial documentary ‘COVID and the Vaccine: Truth, Lies and Misconceptions Revealed.’
‘This isn’t a virus cheating us of this opportunity,’ Stockton said on the documentary. ‘It’s the guys making decisions saying, ‘No, no we’re too scared. We’re going to shut everything down. Sit in your house and be careful.’
Experts have said there is ‘no scientific evidence’ that either COVID-19 or the mRNA vaccines have increased sudden cardiac arrest, often referred to as SCA, among athletes.
More than 75percent of the US population has received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, while COVID-19 has killed more than 860,000 Americans since the beginning of the pandemic.
The false claim that large numbers of athletes are collapsing or dying due to COVID-19 vaccines has circulated on social media for months, particularly among anti-vaccine circles, and has been rejected by medical experts.
Meanwhile, public health experts say masks are a key virus-prevention tool that are most effective when worn by a large number of people.
Stockton said he hopes to move forward from the ‘impasse’ with the university. His children, David and Laura(pictured with her father), also played basketball at Gonzaga
Stockton, who played for the Utah Jazz during his tenure from 1984 to 2003, has repeatedly made false and egregious claims about the spread of COVID-19.
COVID-19 has killed more than 860,000 Americans since the beginning of the pandemic
Stockton played for Gonzaga from 1980 to 1984, when the Zags were a middling program that never posted a record better than 17-11.
The team has since retired his No. 12. A life-sized poster of Stockton in action hangs in a concourse of the McCarthey Athletic Center, part of a gallery of Gonzaga greats.
The Spokane native was a first-round draft pick of the Utah Jazz in 1984 and set an NBA record with 15,806 career assists before his retirement in 2003.
He and his family have lived in Spokane since then, and he has been a fixture at Gonzaga basketball games. He told the Spokesman that he hopes to move forward from the ‘impasse’ with the university.
‘I’m pretty connected to the school,’ Stockton said.
‘I’ve been part of this campus since I was probably 5 or 6 years old. I was just born a couple blocks away and sneaking into the gym and selling programs to get into games since I was a small boy. So, it’s strained but not broken, and I’m sure we’ll get through it, but it’s not without some conflict.’
Stockton’s children, David and Laura, played basketball at Gonzaga.
‘My focus is to maintain that relationship, as is theirs. They’ve made it very clear that we’re important to each other and I don’t think that’s going to change. However, there are some absolute impasses that we’re going to figure out,’ he said.
‘I’ve been around here a long time, so I don’t expect things to linger, whatever they may be.’
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