Gonzaga Suspends John Stockton's Season Tickets over Mask Refusal

John Stockton’s defiance of the COVID-19 mask mandate forces Gonzaga to suspend the NBA Hall of Famer’s basketball season tickets.

Source: Hyoung Chang / Getty

We are in year three of the pandemic and the simple steps we all can to help ease the spread of the virus just seem to be too much for certain people.

Some have simply refused to wear a mask while also refusing to stay home. The worst of the resistance comes in the form of privilege and celebrity, where people seem to think the rules do not apply to them. People are risking fines, jail times, and even money all because they can’t follow rules.

Surprisingly, former NBA legend and Hall of Famer John Stockton is one of those people.

Stockton is a season ticket holder at Gonzaga whose jersey proudly hangs in the rafters for all to see. Stockton, however, also refuses to wear a mask and now the school has made the decision to take his season tickets for not following COVID-19 protocol.

“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.”

You would think that he would want to set an example for the kids that look up to him in a space where he has such high regard, but some people just do not see it that way. Hopefully, he can make it to the away games to support the team.