There are some unique names floating around these days.
But, one Utah high school basketball star might have the best name out there — Stockton Malone Shorts.
Yes, you read that correctly.
According to Andy Larsen of KSL.com, Shorts is the best high school player in the state of Utah.
And it’s not a coincidence that Shorts is named after the famed Utah Jazz pick-and-roll combination of John Stockton and Karl Malone.
According to Kurt Kragthorpe of The Salt Lake City Tribune, Shorts’ parents named him after the Hall of Fame duo following a chance encounter with the two during the U.S. Olympic basketball team’s preparation for the 1996 games.
“Stockton’s parents attended that game vs. China in Phoenix, where they lived, wearing USA jerseys,” Kragthorpe wrote. “They were walking down the street when a van stopped and the driver beckoned them. As they approached the vehicle, out stepped John Stockton, Karl Malone and Jerry Sloan, who chatted with them and signed autographs.
“That explains how their first-born son would have immortalized names. The episode ‘kind of left us speechless,’ said Kelly Shorts, who understood her future husband’s loyalty to the Jazz. ‘That kind of sold me.'”
Shorts is no slouch on the court himself as the senior guard is averaging 23.3 points per game for the Copper Hills Grizzlies of West Jordan, Utah.
He’s certainly living up to his name, even if he doesn’t wear the same shorts that Stockton did during his playing days.
Thumbnail photo via Derick E. Hingle/USA TODAY Sports Images
