Hall of Famer and current NBA all-time assist leader John Stockton is the latest athlete to air his anti-vax conspiracies claiming more than 100 athletes have died from getting the COVID vaccine.
Stockton made the unsubstantiated claim during an interview with Theo Lawson for The Spokesman-Review.
“There’s 150 I believe now – it’s over 100 professional athletes dead, professional athletes, the prime of their life, dropping dead that are vaccinated, right on the pitch, right on the field, right on the court,” said Stockton. “There’s 20,000 deaths from the vaccine that the CDC acknowledges from their VAERS system, which they acknowledge accounts for only 1% of actual. So the actual numbers more than likely are much larger than that, but that’s what they’re actually willing to concede.”
A member of the NBA 75th Anniversary Team and alumni of Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington, Stockton revealed that the university had revoked his season tickets, and he could no longer attend Gonzaga basketball games for failure to wear a mask.
“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. “They were going to have to either ask me to wear a mask or they were going to suspend my tickets.”
Gonzaga requires proof of COVID-19 vaccination or a negative test 72 hours before attending a sporting event.
Stockton has been a vocal opponent of Covid-19 vaccines, lockdowns, and mask mandates.
The 11-time All-Star was interviewed for the documentary “COVID and the Vaccine: Truth, Lies and Misconceptions Revealed,” which has had multiple false claims debunked.
Still, Stockton said he felt “a duty to speak” and that he “sought it [the documentary] out. I wasn’t offered anything for it. I did it on my own and found people that do a good job at it. Was glad to be a part of it.”
When asked if the incident would impact his close relationship with Gonzaga, Stockton replied, “it’s strained but not broken, and I’m sure we’ll get through it.”
Stockton played his entire 19-year-career for the Utah Jazz and is the league’s all-time assist leader at 15,806,