Comedian Gary Owen Recalls How Jazz Legend John Stockton Killed His NBA Dream

We all think that if the opportunity came, we could ball next to NBA greats. Unfortunately, the reality is that the skill gap between the pros and your average Joe is quite noticeable. Comedian Gary Owen almost got to show off his limited game to some NBA greats, until one of them shut him down.

The famed 51-year-old funny guy shared this epic tale during a recent interview on Richard Jefferson’s Road Trippin podcast. Owen revealed that back in the late 90s, he was seconds away from playing a pickup game with members of the Utah Jazz, including John Stockton.

“The 98-99 season was the strike,” Owen began. “The NBA guys could not play organized basketball. So, Bryon Russell was doing a New Year’s Eve show in Salt Lake. So he brought me out to do the show and he goes, ‘Yeah I’m gonna play pickup today, do you want to go to watch?'”

Owen obviously attended, but realized when he got there that he was the final man in the rotation. “So we go, there’s only 9 people. I’m the 10th. I’m like, 22.” He continued setting the stage, even joking that he felt seconds away from getting discovered.

“I’m sitting there. All of a sudden, I’m doing layups and sh**. I go, ‘Oh my God, I’m about to be discovered.’ Oh my god. They’re gonna be like, ‘Where the hell did this guy come from?’ And I could dunk, but I couldn’t dunk in a game,” he said,  which made Jefferson and the rest of the panel laugh.

It looked like the comedian was really going to get his wish. That was until John Stockton decided he was a liability. “We’re getting ready to start and Stockton goes, ‘Who’s that?’And they go, ‘That’s Bryon’s friend.’ He goes, ‘What’s he do?’ “He’s a comedian.’ ‘No, no, he’s not playing.'”

Owen admitted that his dreams were slightly crushed. He also admitted that Stockton was 100% right after giving him the reason why he couldn’t play. “It made sense later. He goes look, ‘We don’t know when the strike is going to end. We got to be ready when this strike’s over. We can’t risk this guy being a liability.'”

Stock denying Owen is quite funny. Even a simple pickup game meant the world to the Hall of Famer. Through his lens, it doesn’t make sense. God forbid he had gotten injured at the hands of Gary Owen. That would be something that neither man would ever be able to let go.

On the other hand, run circles around the man. Give him an even better story to tell. Let him play one game to 11. Who knows, maybe Owen would have shown off his impressive dunking skills that he spoke about. Either way, Owen has a story to tell forever.

About the author

Joseph Galizia

Joseph is a Las Vegas based actor and circus performer. For the last seven years he's had the pleasure of covering sports for multiple outlets, including the Lifestyles section of Sports Illustrated. In that time, he's conducted over 50 interviews with athletes, filmmakers, and company founders to further cement his footprint in the journalism world. He's excited to bring that skillset to the SportsRush, where he'll be covering the NBA news cycle.

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