John Stockton Files Lawsuit Against Washington Attorney General For Spreading 'Anti-COVID Misinformation'

In an effort to continue his war against the COVID-19 protocols, Jazz legend John Stockton is suing the Attorney General of Washington and the executive director of the Washington Medical Commission for their policy of disciplining doctors who spread COVID "misinformation." Stockton, along with Robert F. Kennedy's The Children’s Health Defense nonprofit, and two retired doctors, are seeking a "declaration" of their violation of the First Amendment along with attorneys fees and “other such further relief" from the Washington Medical Commission. 

“The only thing we’re interested in is the First Amendment issue,” said Rick Jaffe, one of Stockton’s attorneys, via Alayna Shulman of The Spokesman-Review. “Does the medical board have the constitutional authority to investigate, prosecute and sanction doctors for writing articles, posting blogs on websites and speaking out in public, even if the government or the medical board thinks what they’re saying is wrong or dangerous?”

The plaintiffs allege that the state's policy of dealing with doctors who spread COVID "misinformation" is unconstitutional and that at least two doctors suffered irreparable career damage after being punished for "professional misconduct."

The policy was enacted in 2021 as a way to prohibit public misinformation about the virus and actively tried to de-platform anyone who disagreed with the official protocol. While Stockton doesn't have any direct involvement in this case, he claims to be a victim of the medical commission who, according to him, unjustly limited his exposure to licensed physicians who "disagree with the mainstream Covid narrative.”

The claims with COVID-19 have been all over the place and while the NBA encouraged their players to take the vaccine and comply with all safety regulations, there has been resistance to some of the vaccine mandates.

John Stockton has been in this fight for a while now. and this is just his latest battle in this ongoing war. As one of the NBA's most vocal advocates against COVID-19 vaccination protocols, Stockton has taken just about every measure possible to combat any guidelines that try to force and encourage anyone to get the vaccine.  

Besides supporting notorious vaccine challenger Robert Kennedy Jr., Stockton has spoken out publicly to vocalize his beliefs—like in 2022, when he claimed that thousands of athletes had succumbed to the COVID-19 vaccine. Stockton has also come out to stand with Kyrie Irving after he famously decided against taking the vaccine a few years ago.

As a 10x All-Star, 11x All-NBA player, and 5x All-Defensive star, Stocktn will forever be recognized as one of the game's all-time great point guards. Even so, his legacy has become somewhat controversial for the issues he's chosen to fight for and it remains to be seen how the public will react to this latest legal move from the NBA Hall-of-Famer.