Stockton Signs His New Contract, Which Includes A ‘Kiddie’ Clause Jazz Gives Ex-Gonzaga Star A Three-Year No-Trade Deal

John Stockton signed a three-year contract on Thursday that should see him retire in a Utah Jazz uniform, guarantees he won’t be traded - and formally allows him to roughhouse with his children.

While neither Utah’s perennial All-Star guard nor Jazz owner Larry H. Miller would release details, they did not deny published reports that the contract is worth about $15 million.

Miller did say of the deal that, “When you look at point guard salaries in the NBA, John will still be right up there.”

Stockton, the league’s career leader in assists and steals and a two-time Olympic basketball gold medalist, was just happy to have the “business part” of his job over with.

“Now, it’s back to the part I enjoy, and that’s playing the game,” Stockton said during an informal news conference in the Delta Center.

Miller said the 6-foot-1 playmaker had called on Wednesday asking for the no-trade clause. The Jazz owner readily agreed.

Then, there was that other provision that brought a chuckle from Miller.

Stockton, who has three sons and a daughter, “wanted to be able to play catch with his kids, and soccer, and baseball and go biking without possibly endangering his contract,” Miller said.

Stockton, who has missed only four games in a 12-year NBA career, would easily have been able to get more money on the open market.

Stockton said he is aware that, at age 34, his career is entering its twilight years.

“It looks like it could be my last contract and I’m delighted to be able to finish my career here,” Stockton said. “That’s been my hope all along.”

“I think it would have been hard for me to pull it off, even if I’d wanted to, to go out there and say I’ll go anywhere.”

Stockton always has said money hasn’t been the deciding factor in negotiations with Miller over the years. As a free agent last season, he made it clear he intended to re-sign with the Jazz, which drafted him out of Gonzaga University in 1984.

Stockton and fellow All-Star Karl Malone have been heart of a franchise that has won at least 51 games in seven of the last eight seasons.