FanHouse JohnStockton

Who doesn't like a list, especially on a Monday morning when that's about all you can handle?

Here is each Hall of Fame Inductees' best line from Friday night's ceremony in Springfield, Mass.:

Jerry Sloan: "Tom Boerwinkle ... 6-foot-11, built my backyard. When he bought the house behind me, I said: 'Tom, we were roommates one day and next day you're in my backyard looking out the window. He said 'I've got that figured out; I'll build a fence 6-feet-10, I can see over it and you can't.'

Tip-Off Timer counts down the days until the first game of the 2009-10 season. On Monday, there are 43 days remaining.

While Karl Malone's ring-chasing with the Lakers prevented the most prolific Jazz teammates from going into the Hall of Fame together, John Stockton and the Mailman have been honored as a pair before.

At the NBA's 43rd All-Star Game in Salt Lake City -- back in 1993, before the Jazz had ever made the Finals -- Stockton and Malone shared the MVP award as the West won 135-132. While home cookin' was certainly involved in Utah in Stockton's case, it was a nice touch for the media to split the award between the inseparable stars.

NBA Essentials provides the must-see links, quotes and videos of the day.

-- "Shaquille O'Neal didn't just stay an extra day in Dallas because, as he claims, he wanted to visit the Grassy Knoll. We're told the Suns legendary center also stayed behind because he thinks all the grass in Dallas might be greener – and that he is angling with Mavs owner Mark Cuban for an offseason trade to Big D." -- Mike Fisher, DallasBasketball.com

So, it looks as if Michael Jordan, John Stockton, David Robinson, Jerry Sloan and Vivien Stringer are going to make it into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

Congratulations to 'em.

But every time I hear of a Basketball Hall of Fame vote, I actually get annoyed. I don't want to get annoyed, but I get annoyed.

I'd like nothing more than to stroll down memory lane, reliving some of the good times of the past. Maybe even have an argument or two over who deserved to get in and who didn't.

Larry H. Miller, the owner of the Utah Jazz, passed away Friday at the age of 64 after a long battle with diabetes. Miller had been confined to a wheelchair for some time, and just a few weeks ago had both legs amputated below the knees.

The Jazz owner is survived by his wife Gail. Miller was a somewhat controversial figure in Utah, as a result of both actions relating to the basketball team and beliefs away from the arena of sports.

As the large print above would indicate, the list of finalists for 2009 induction into the Basketball Hall of Fame is filled with huge name no-brainers. (That is not a commentary on any recent Bobcats moves.) The NBA released the list today; the finalists will be formally presented on All-Star Friday this week in Phoenix. (UPDATE: The NBA release didn't exactly name the finalists -- it mentioned everyone who is likely to be a finalist in order to drum up interest in the official unveiling Friday.)

Michael Jordan's induction is the easiest vote of all-time; if any joker leaves him off to make a point or the headlines, his head will be served up for dessert at MJ's Hall ceremony. I figure the same can be said for David Robinson and John Stockton, but people with quills often take idiotic stances surprise me.

Until SLC Dunk unearthed this commercial, I couldn't remember a single commercial featuring John Stockton. After watching it, I think we know why. I know he was supposed to look awkward, but I'm not sure that was acting -- this was just painful.

(via BallHype)

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Before the Jazz are calmly escorted out of the postseason, I wanted to get a handle on the comparisons between the tandems of Deron Williams/Carlos Boozer and John Stockton/Karl Malone. It's natural to go there, since they play the same positions in the same city, but let's not get carried away. The similarities end shortly thereafter.

I'm not saying that Williams and Boozer aren't of the same caliber. There's no reason (other than Tim Duncan, I suppose), that Williams and Boozer can't take the Jazz as far as Stockton and Malone did, if not farther.

But they're not comparable tandems. It's like trying to compare Robert Parrish and Kevin McHale to Matthew Lesko and a traffic cone. You're just not going to get anywhere.

Stockton and the Mailman were tied so closely to their pick and roll that it's almost impossible to think about Williams and Boozer reaching that same level of simpatico. It was almost as if Stockton was one of Malone's appendages (don't think too hard about that). No two teammates have ever been so closely associated with each other, though Joe Montana and Jerry Rice are probably come closest.