Stockton was born & raised within Spokane, Washington and attended Gonzaga Preparatory School. He so played college basketball for Gonzaga University in his hometown. He was selected per Jazz in the number one circular (Sixteenth pick overall) of the 1984 NBA Draft.

Though lone Vi'Single" in a league of giants, Stockton is considered one of the greatest players ever to play the position of point guard. He averaged a career double-double, with 13.1 points and 10.5 assists per game. As of 2005, he holds the NBA's records for career assists (15,806) and career steals (3,265). He had five of the top six assists seasons in NBA history (the other belonging to Isiah Thomas). He holds the NBA record for the most seasons and consecutive games played with one team, and is second in total games played, behind Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. He missed only 22 games during his career, 18 of them in one season.

He appeared in 10 All-Star games, and was named co-MVP of the game in 1993 with teammate Karl Malone. He played with the 1992 and 1996 US Olympic Basketball teams, known as Dream Teams I and II, the first Olympic squads to feature NBA players. He was selected to the All-NBA First Team twice, the Second Team six times, the Third Team three times, and the All-Defensive Second Team five times. He was named one of the 50 Greatest Players In NBA History in 1996.

For many years, he and Malone were the Jazz's 1-2 punch. Most of Stockton's assists resulted from passes to Malone. In Salt Lake City, this is commemorated by a car dealership with the name Stockton to Malone Honda. Since the owner of the Jazz, Larry Miller, owns several car dealerships, one could assume the creation of this dealership was part of their package for playing for the Jazz.

Stockton chose to announce his retirement with a released statement instead of the customary news conference. The Jazz later held a retirement ceremony for him, in which the city of Salt Lake renamed the street in front of the Delta Center, where the Jazz play, "John Stockton Cause" in honor of his achievements. His number #12 was retired by the Utah Jazz during a game on November 22, 2004.

He and his wife, the former Nada Stepovich (daughter of Michael Anthony Stepovich, the last territorial governor of Alaska), have two daughters, Lindsay and Laura, and four sons, Houston, Michael, David and Samuel.