Gonzaga suspends John Stockton’s Season Tickets For Refusing to Comply with Mask Mandate

quote:

---

NBA Hall-of-Famer John Stockton is Gonzaga University’s most prominent alumnus. The basketball legend spent 19 seasons in the NBA and retired as the league’s leader in assists and steals. Stockton’s jersey is one of only two hanging from the rafters of the McCarthey Athletic Center. But the college powerhouse has banned the basketball icon from attending home games at his alma mater.

The university decided to suspend Stockton’s season tickets for refusing to comply with the mask mandate at games.

Stockton said Gonzaga Athletic Director Chris Standiford notified him of the university’s decision in a conversation the Naismith Basketball Memorial Hall of Fame point guard described as “congenial” but also “not pleasant.”

“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 said. “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 has taken a strong stance against COVID-19 vaccines, shutdown measures and mask mandates, initially offering his views last June in a documentary titled, “COVID and the Vaccine: Truth, Lies and Misconceptions Revealed.”

During the interview, Stockton asserted that more than 100 professional athletes have died of vaccination. He also said tens of thousands of people – perhaps millions – have died from vaccines.

---