Los Angeles—NBA legend John Stockton has been barred from attending basketball games at his former college for violating COVID-19 protocols by refusing to wear a mask.
Gonzaga University opted to take Stockton’s season tickets away after warning the 10-time NBA all-star he was violating the team’s COVID-19 measures.
“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,” a school spokesman said.
The 59-year-old Stockton made his thoughts on the Covid-19 vaccine public in a film that came out in the summer.
“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 told The Spokesman-Review newspaper.
“And therefore they received complaints and felt like from whatever the higher-ups—those weren’t discussed, but from whatever it was higher up—they were going to have to either ask me to wear a mask or they were going to suspend my tickets.”
Stockton starred at Gonzaga University from 1980 to 1984. He is still the school’s all-time leader in steals with 262.
He was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2009 after 19 seasons with the Utah Jazz.
Stockton also helped the US men’s basketball team win two Olympic gold medals.
Meanwhile, Milwaukee Bucks guard Grayson Allen has been suspended for one game for breaking the wrist of Alex Caruso of the Chicago Bulls in Friday night’s NBA game in Milwaukee.
The league’s disciplinary officials decided to suspend Allen after he was slapped with a flagrant two foul call by officials during the third quarter of the Bucks 94-90 win. Allen was ejected after the penalty call.
Caruso went up for a layup on a fast break with 5:45 remaining in the third,—and, while he was in mid-air —Allen grabbed his arms and spun him around, sending the Bulls guard crashing to the floor where he landed on his right wrist.
Caruso will miss six to eight weeks with the fracture.