"A pedo and an anti-vaxxer": Utah Jazz's celebration of Karl Malone and John Stockton leaves NBA fans appalled

Earlier this week, the Utah Jazz announced a special sit-down interview with two of their top players of all time. Due to their actions off the court, NBA fans were quick to ridicule the event.

When it comes to the history of the Utah Jazz, John Stockton and Karl Malone are arguably the best players to ever suit up for the franchise. The two played together for nearly two decades and brought the organization great success. Now, the pair of Hall of Famers plan on sitting down and doing an exclusive interview.

NBA fans were quick to respond to this event, but not in the way the Jazz might have hoped. Some did not hold back with their thoughts on the two former stars.

Stockton spent his entire 19-year career in Utah, where he led the league in assists on nine different occasions. He was always one of the NBA's top ironmen, playing in 82 games in 16 of those seasons.

Malone spent a majority of his career with the Utah Jazz before joining the LA Lakers in his final season. He too played 19 seasons and was a two-time MVP along with a 14-time All-Star. Malone is also No. 3 on the NBA's all-time scoring list with 36,928 points.

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Why did NBA fans have a poor reaction to this Utah Jazz announcement?

NBA fans responded negatively to this event because of the players involved. While Karl Malone and John Stockton were great players for the Utah Jazz, their actions off the court have tainted their reputation. Because of this, fans don't care much to hear from them.

For Malone, the criticism has followed him his entire career. This is because of an incident that happened while he was in college. While he was a sophomore, a story emerged that he had impregnated a 13-year-old girl. Malone was 20 at the time.

With Stockton, the turn on him is more recent. The legendary point guard was out of the light for the most part following retirement. However, some of his comments regarding the COVID-19 pandemic cause a shift in how he's viewed.

As the Covid vaccine was being rolled out, Stockton constantly spoke out against it. He even went as far as to say he knew over 1,000 athletes who had died after receiving it.

Stockton's anit-Covid stance did not end there. He was also dead against the idea of wearing a mask in public settings. This caused a major riff between him and his alma mater Gonzaga.

As an alumnus, Stockton would regularly be seen at Gonzaga games. He was easy to spot in a crowd given that he is a Hall of Famer. This is partially what led to the disconnect.

Because everyone knew who he was, Stockton refusing to wear a mask at games later became an issue. When he refused to follow the rules, the school had no choice but to suspend his tickets.