[Old General Record] From John to Harry! The inheritance path of point guard!

Looking at the long history of the NBA, if you talk about point guards alone, John Stockton undoubtedly has an important place. When he was on the court, he was the commander who controlled the game, and when he put down the basketball, he was no different from an ordinary person. The better he performs on the court, the less prominent he is off the court.

A short story. During his time with the Jazz, Stockton went to the stadium for training with his teammate Malone, and was stopped by the security guard:

"Young man, that person is Malone, but I don't know if you are a fan."

Such low-key accompanied him until he retired. Even in the final farewell, he only met Jazz owner Larry Miller and head coach Jerry Sloan, and then announced in the locker room that it seemed that he had just ended a regular season. There is no extra farewell ceremony, no grand press conference, and no gorgeous farewell stage.

These little episodes also confirm Stockton's uniqueness. No matter how powerful he is on the court, he is still an ordinary person outside the court. He once said that the Jazz gave him a chance, so he would choose to be loyal to the Jazz first.

Just like in the summer of 1996, when tens of millions of contracts were flying everywhere and the free agent defenders got a sky-high contract, he was still willing to sign a contract with the Jazz that was half less than the market, and the negotiation conditions he proposed were just to win a chance to train at the Jazz at home.

This is Stockton's usual style. This low-keyness runs through his basketball career, leaving the light to his teammates and the game, and he just needs to complete his mission quietly.

came to another perspective. On May 27, 2025, in the fourth game of the Eastern Conference Finals, the Pacers played against the Knicks at home. Halliburton scored 32 points, 12 rebounds, 15 assists, 5 steals and 0 mistakes, leading the Pacers to lead the Knicks 3-1 with a total score. After this battle, Halliburton became the first player in the NBA playoffs to score at least 30 points, 16 rebounds and 0 turnovers. In a post-match interview, Halliburton said that he did not know these records:

"I don't know about this. I feel that sometimes you compiled these data to beautify me. I just want to play the right basketball and help the team win." After eliminating the Knicks, the first game of the Thunder was faced in the finals. Halliburton once again led the Pacers to create miracles, facing the Thunder in the last 0.3 second jump shot and scored, and won the first victory 111-110. Halliburton, who completed the fatal blow, was like a child. In an interview after the game, when the ESPN host said that he did not see the Pacers' strength, Halliburton just responded with a smile:

"This is normal, we joined the battlefield very late."

For the humble Halliburton, his journey was not easy. When the King traded him, he still believed that it was caused by his personal shortcomings. At that time, he did not have the confidence he is now and could not figure out his team's position. He was soon traded to the Pacers.

After coming to the new team, the point guard quickly determined his offensive engine role. During the playoff journey last season, Halliburton showed his big heart and repeatedly staged a reversal score show at critical moments.

After the first game of the finals of the Thunder, Halliburton thought of not the finals, but the content of his own game on the spot:

"Damn, although I scored the ball, there is still a lot of room for improvement, and I can do better."

For Halliburton's attitude of treating personal honor as a cloud, focusing on the mentality of the team, humble personality and selfless style, they always remind people of the low-key figure who passed the ball first and scored the second many years ago.

"Haliburton is special, he reminds me of Stockton. It's not that they play the same style, but that they have the same influence and have the potential to enter the Hall of Fame."

This is what senior Artest said of Halliburton in the playoffs last season.

After the All-Star last season, the Pacers achieved an excellent record of 20 wins and 9 losses, which is not only due to the team's chemistry, but also from Halliburton's stable contribution. He scored an astonishing wave of data in February and March, with 12 consecutive double-doubles, completing at least one steal and no more than two turnovers.

Looking at the NBA historical data sheet, only Jokic, Paul and Stockton have completed such achievements in five games. What is even more unbelievable is that in these 12 games, Halliburton made two mistakes in only two games, and the rest of the games kept the mistakes at an extremely low level. Although it is far from Stockton's record of at least 10 points and 10 assists in 37 consecutive games, judging from Halliburton's current growth trend, it is not completely impossible to reach this level in the future. In fact, this is not the first time he has been following his seniors in data records.

On December 30, 2023, the Pacers faced the Knicks' regular season, Halliburton gave 22 points and 23 assists, tying the Pacers' highest assist record in a single game set by Jamal Tinsley in 2001. In addition, he scored 21 points and 20 assists against the Bulls two days ago. Halliburton became the third player in NBA history to hand in at least 20 points and 20 assists in two consecutive games, ranking third in history, behind two seniors, Magic Johnson and Stockton.

Compared to Stockton, many years ago, he used a similar method to break out on the court, leading the Jazz to become a Western power in the 1990s.

But in the previous era of tall point guards such as Magic, Stockton's thin body was initially considered difficult to gain a foothold in the NBA, but he eventually broke the prejudice. Selected in the US Men's Basketball Team, selected for the Best Team and Defensive Team many times, setting up many historical assist records, and is also a famous Iron Man representative in NBA history..

Compared to his performance on the court, Stockton enjoys life outside the spotlight more. Just like on the court, the fans' first instinct is more focused on Malone rather than Stockton, and he always seems to be serious. Even if he made a priceless three-pointer in the Western Conference Final in 1997, after passionate celebration, he handed over the post-match interview to Malone.

Every time he plays well, it seems to be natural. However, fans often ignore the details hidden under the appearance. The huge palm allows him to easily send a long pass. His seemingly weak body is full of huge energy. He can perform pick-and-roll anywhere on the court and face any opponent, stably activate every attack.

And when Stockton broke the Magician's assist record in 1995, as a point guard predecessor, the Magician was even more excited than Stockton himself:

"No one passes and interprets the team like Stockton, and no one knows how to get everyone involved, just like the Magic, but what sets him apart is his tenacity, and he will stand up immediately after being knocked down."

Even though he succeeds, Stockton still maintains that original low-key personality. Time flies, and today decades later, the NBA welcomes Halliburton, an organizational core with modest qualities and similar game styles. Both of them create offensive opportunities for the team with their superb passing vision and selfless assists, a period of inheritance and response across time and space.

As the NBA point guard role gradually changed from a traditional organizer in the past to a double-scoring guard who focused more on scoring, and later evolved into an all-round role, fans once thought that the era of pure point guard had come to an end. But when Halliburton opened up a unique path with organizational assists, we also began to recall the era of pure point guards who held the ball and dominated the victory.

also lacked explosive physical fitness, did not jump high, and scored ability was not explosive, but there was a hint of smile and friendly. When Halliburton completed assists on the court and even repeatedly made amazing performances in the playoffs, fans couldn't help but start to look forward to whether Halliburton could achieve the same achievements as Stockton.

The root of this expectation is that they are all like ordinary people, with talent and figure no advantage, but they still go against the current and make a big splash.

When Stockton announced his retirement, the most emotional thing was that he knew his partner Carl Malone best:

"I hope that not only Utah, but people in the entire NBA will appreciate his definition of basketball. Some people say he is short, he comes from a small town, he says he is not fast enough, he says he can't dribble under his crotch and dribble behind his back, but he just plays the same way basketball should be."

For Stockton and Halliburton, they are not the kind of people who were highly expected at the beginning and can rewrite the fate of the team. One is in the golden age of basketball globalization, and the other is in the modern battlefield where player data explodes. In different eras, the stories of the two have similar beginnings.

Stockton was considered too small and too slow, and later achieved historical achievements to establish his historical status; while Halliburton transformed from the king's bargaining chip to the Pacers' core, gradually proving his value.

No matter how the times change or how basketball development changes, greatness never lies in external or talent. The true leaders don’t have to be the most dazzling star in the spotlight. They will choose to converge their personal light, achieve teammates and teams through perfect assists again and again, and redefine the value of point guards in their own way.