NBA legend John Stockton ramps up fight against COVID policies with federal lawsuit

Former NBA great John Stockton has ramped up his rebellion against COVID-19 restrictions by suing Washington state officials who cracked down on COVID misinformation from doctors – a lawsuit that claims the doctors’ free-speech rights were violated because they spoke  “against the mainstream Covid narrative.”

He and other plaintiffs filed the lawsuit in federal court recently, with presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. listed as one of his attorneys. The complaint names the state attorney general as a defendant along with the executive director of the Washington Medical Commission, which regulates doctors in the state.

“The purpose of this lawsuit is to protect the right of physicians to speak, and the right of the public to hear their message,” the lawsuit states. “The goal is to stop the Commission from investigating, prosecuting or sanctioning physicians who speak out in public against the so-called `mainstream Covid narrative’ i.e., the succession of public health edicts put out by the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) and repeated by the primary news outlets, which has caused the public to lose trust in the public health authorities, which has caused the CDC to repeatedly apologize and promise to do better.”

Why is John Stockton involved in this?

Stockton, 61, is suing on his own behalf and advocates “for all Washingtonians who share his belief that people have the First Amendment right to hear the public soapbox speech of Washington licensed physicians who disagree with the mainstream Covid narrative,” according to the lawsuit.

Stockton played college basketball at Gonzaga in Spokane and had his season tickets there suspended for his refusal to wear a mask during games. He also has lent his support to the legal efforts of former Washington State football coach Nick Rolovich, who was fired in 2021 after he refused to get vaccinated under a state mandate.

In an interview with the Spokesman-Review in 2022, Stockton also made unfounded claims that “more than 100 professional athletes have died of vaccination.”

What does Stockton's lawsuit seek?

He is joined in the suit by doctors who said they were prosecuted by the state, as well as the Children’s Health Defense, a nonprofit founded by Kennedy, who has become known for his misleading, unfounded or debunked claims about vaccines and the pandemic.

The Washington Medical Commission served notice on COVID misinformation in 2021, warning that “treatments and recommendations regarding this disease that fall below standard of care as established by medical experts, federal authorities and legitimate medical research are potentially subject to disciplinary action."

The suit seeks a declaration that the state’s actions violated the First Amendment rights of the doctors. It also seeks an injunction against the state initiating or continuing any investigation or prosecution of any Washington licensed physician, based on these written or verbal communications by physicians to the public. The suit states the defendants investigated, prosecuted and/or sanctioned approximately 60 physicians since September 2021.

A message seeking comment from the commission was not immediately returned.

Follow reporter Brent Schrotenboer @Schrotenboer. Email: bschrotenb@usatoday.com