John Stockton, a basketball legend with a storied career in college and professional basketball, is now shifting his focus to a new arena. The former Utah Jazz point guard, NBA Hall of Famer, and current podcast host is spearheading a federal lawsuit against the Washington state attorney general’s office and medical commission. This legal action challenges the regulations implemented during the COVID pandemic that restrict doctors from questioning the mainstream media narrative.
Hailing from Spokane, Washington, and known for his basketball prowess at Gonzaga University, Stockton is displaying the same level of intensity in addressing this issue as he did on the basketball court. In a recent interview on “Fox First,” Stockton and attorney Rick Jaffe condemned the rules enacted by Washington state in 2021, labeling them as an infringement on American liberties and scientific freedom.
The objective of the lawsuit is evident. Stockton stated, “I believe it’s quite straightforward. It’s about freedom. Even though we discuss medical freedom and other things, it’s about freedom and the freedom to express oneself. It’s our First Amendment.”
It is hoped that Americans will never forget how “freedom” was essentially the last thing on the minds of too many local, state, and federal officials during the height of the coronavirus frenzy. (Unless it was the freedom to riot.)
In September 2021, as some — Republican-led — regions of the country were regaining their sanity, the Washington State Medical Commission released a statement announcing that it had unanimously voted to adopt a position on what it referred to as “COVID-19 Misinformation.”
This statement came after a July 2021 announcement from the Federation of State Medical Boards — a national umbrella organization — which stated that “Physicians who create and spread COVID-19 vaccine misinformation or disinformation are risking disciplinary action by state medical boards, including the suspension or revocation of their medical license.” Naturally, what constitutes “disinformation” or “misinformation” regarding COVID has always been more of a subjective matter than a factual one, and it has evolved over time.
At one stage, the “lab leak theory” — suggesting that the COVID-19 pandemic originated at the Wuhan Institute of Virology in Wuhan, China — was deemed to be “disinformation.” In 2023, both the FBI and the Department of Energy endorsed it as the most probable source of the disease — albeit with a politically convenient caveat of “low confidence” in the latter’s case.
Even Dr. Anthony Fauci, the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, has admitted that the social distancing guidelines recommending individuals to stay six feet apart were essentially arbitrary.
During the height of the pandemic, individuals in public or semi-public positions faced the threat of social and professional isolation if they expressed opinions contrary to the mainstream narrative. In Washington state, as alleged in Stockton’s lawsuit, there was also the risk of losing one’s professional license.
“The Washington Medical Commission I think is an outlier in most states,” Stockton attorney Rick Jaffe told Fox News’ Todd Piro.
“I don’t think there’s any court case that’s ever held that a professional can be silenced in terms of his speech to the public.”
Stockton has a reputation for being vocal in his opposition to COVID-related measures. In 2022, the individual with the most illustrious legacy in the esteemed history of Gonzaga University basketball, having been inducted into both the NBA Hall of Fame and the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame, faced the suspension of his season tickets for Gonzaga basketball games due to his stance against mask mandates.
“This isn’t the first time Stockton has taken a defiant stance on COVID-19 restrictions,” the Spokane Spokesman-Review reported March 11. “The Gonzaga University alum was once suspended from attending basketball games at his alma mater after he refused to wear a face mask.”
He has been vocal about policies that many Americans overlook, through his podcast “Voices for Medical Freedom.” Now, he is escalating the fight by bringing it to court through a federal lawsuit. This legal action has the potential to shed light on the treatment individuals have received from both the medical and political sectors during the COVID pandemic, especially those who express opposing viewpoints. This battle holds greater significance than any Stockton ever faced on the basketball court, and thankfully, he is receiving backing.
“I’ve received calls from people and doctors that I haven’t spoken to in quite a while, and they’re just so grateful,” he told Piro. “They’re grateful that somebody is stepping up that has a voice.”