John Stockton suspended from Gonzaga home games over mask mandate
John Stockton has had his season tickets at Gonzaga men’s basketball home games suspended by the university for the remainder of the 2021-22 season. In an interview with The Spokesman Review, Stockton confirmed that his disagreements with the university’s mask mandate while being a public figure resulted in GU pulling his tickets for Zags games at the McCarthey Athletic Center.
According to Stockton, GU Athletic Director Chris Standiford notified him about the university’s decision regarding the status of his season tickets. Stockton doesn’t feel like the decision has ruined his relationship with the university or the team long term, but does think that it will take some time for the situation to wash over.
“[Our relationship] is strained but not broken and I’m sure we’ll get through it, but it’s not without some conflict,” Stockton said to the Spokesman.
Stockton regularly sits a few isles behind the scorer’s table during home games, but reportedly wasn’t seen there during GU’s game against San Francisco on Thursday. Stockton wouldn’t wear his mask sitting in the crowd at previous games despite the university making mask-wearing mandatory for all indoor events on campus since August of last year.
Standiford provided the Spokesman with a statement on behalf of the university when he was asked to comment on the situation.
“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 statement said. “We will not speak to specific actions taken with any specific individuals. We take enforcement of COVID-19 health and safety protocols seriously and will continue to evaluate how we can best mitigate the risks posed by COVID-19 with appropriate measures.”
It’s been noted publicly since last year that Stockton has been opposed to multiple public health measures being taken in the state of Washington and in the United States to curb the pandemic. He was featured in a documentary titled, “COVID-19 and the Vaccine: Truths, Lies, and Misconceptions Revealed” last June where he made statements discrediting the efficacy of the vaccine.
In an interview for the documentary, Stockton alleged that up to 150 athletes have died from vaccinations before, even saying that some have died right on the playing field. Publichealth.org as well as other organizations have published multiple scientific reports that discredit claims of harmful vaccines, and John Hopkins Medicine has said that the COVID-19 vaccines in particular, “are very safe and very good at preventing serious or fatal cases of COVID-19. The risk of serious side effects associated with these vaccines is very small.”
The basketball Hall of Fame guard told the Spokesman that he has had multiple discussions with members of GU’s athletic department about mask-wearing dating back to 2020, and that he considered wearing a mask at games in order to keep his season tickets for the year.
“I’m very concerned about my image,” Stockton said to the Spokesman. “I understand I’m a public figure and they show me at every game, so they understand it as well. I take that responsibility very seriously, both when I’m around campus and when I’m not.”
One of two players to have their number retired in the McCarthey Athletic Center, Stockton has been around GU and involved with the basketball program since he was 6 years old as a Spokane native. After retiring from the NBA in 2003 as the all-time leader in assists, he moved back to his hometown and started the Warehouse athletic facility right across the street from GU’s campus.
Current and former GU players train at his facility in the offseason and he’s stayed involved with the basketball program and the university for many years.
“I think this is one impasse,” Stockton said. “There’s probably a lot of different directions this can go and I think time will tell on all of that. 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 have to figure out.”
