Lakers Players

Karl Malone

Karl Malone (born July 24, 1963 in Bernice, Louisiana) is a former professional basketball player. He was nicknamed in college as the Mailman for his consistency ("the mailman always delivers"), and was statistically the greatest power forward ever in the NBA.

Malone spent his first 18 seasons (1985–2003) as the star player for the Utah Jazz. He then played one season (2003-04) for the Los Angeles Lakers before retiring from the game.

Malone was famous for his extremely well-defined physique, which resembled that of a bodybuilder. Along with Patrick Ewing, Charles Barkley, Reggie Miller, Dominique Wilkins, Elgin Baylor, and his longtime Jazz teammate John Stockton, he is considered to be one of the best players, perhaps even the best, never to have won a championship ring.

Malone's jersey was retired on March 23, 2006, when the Jazz hosted the Washington Wizards. He was also honored with the unveiling of a bronze statue outside the Delta Center next to one of teammate John Stockton, and the renaming of a portion of 100 South St. in Salt Lake City in his honor. The intersection where the Stockton and Malone statues stand is now the intersection of Stockton and Malone.

Karl played for three years at Louisiana Tech University. He was ineligible to play his first year because of low grades and he worked hard to raise his grade point average to qualify. This became the hallmark of Karl's career. He was seldom the most talented player, but always went back to his strong work ethic to make up the difference. Karl was very popular in Ruston, Louisiana, and remains so today. He is well known for both his athletic abilities, and his dedication to developing commerce and job opportunities in the parish.

Karl Malone was chosen by the Jazz in 1985 out of Louisiana Tech with the 13th overall pick in the draft. After his rookie season, the Jazz saw in him the potential to be the cornerstone of their offense. So, they traded star forward, Adrian Dantley, to the Detroit Pistons and decided to build around Malone.

At the same time, reserve point guard John Stockton, was winning the trust of the coaching staff. By 1987 Karl was the foundation of the offense and Stockton was the floor general and both had All-Star seasons. That season was also the first for head coach Jerry Sloan. The three would be inseparable for 16 seasons. It was also at the end of that season that the Jazz as a team rose to national prominence after an amazing playoffs series against the Magic Johnson-led Los Angeles Lakers. For many years, he and Stockton played together on the Jazz, forming one of the most productive guard-forward combinations in NBA history. The two played a record 1,412 regular-season games together as teammates. Playing Jerry Sloan's scrappy and tough style and perfecting the pick and roll to a maximum degree of efficiency, the Jazz became a staple to make it to the playoffs and to have a winning record in the regular season.

By the mid-90's the Utah Jazz had risen to power as one of the top five teams in the league and had started to knock on the doors of the NBA Finals. They finally got there in 1997 and 1998 but were defeated both times by the Michael Jordan-led Chicago Bulls. The 1998 loss was especially controversial: into Game 6 with the Bulls leading the series 3-2, Michael Jordan stole the ball off Malone with a borderline foul, and then pushed off small forward Bryon Russell to get open for the winning shot.

In 1999 (the year after Jordan's retirement), the Jazz were the favorites to win, but were hindered by a compressed schedule (stemming from the NBA lockout) and instead started a gradual decline that was a reflection of the aging of their two superstar players. Eventually, Stockton would retire at the end of the 2003 season.

Karl stayed for one more season, joining the Los Angeles Lakers to try and win a championship, the only major achievement that had eluded him in his career. His bid failed as the Lakers were defeated in five games by the Detroit Pistons in 2004. Although several NBA teams sought his services for the 2004-2005 season, Malone decided to retire as a player on February 13, 2005. The Jazz have retired his Nr. 32 jersey in his honour.

Malone is regarded as one of the best forwards ever. He collected two regular-season MVP Awards, 11 NBA First Team nominations and also three NBA All-Defensive Team callups.

Statistically, he is even the ultimate power forward. He scored 36,928 points (25.0 per game), second best all-time, on remarkable .516 shooting. His high field goal percentage benefitted from two factors, namely on one hand the superior passing of John Stockton, and secondly his extreme physical power, enabling to safely slam dunk on most forwards. Malone grabbed an average 10.1 rebounds (thus avaraging a double-double in his career) and also stole an average 1.41 balls per game.

Karl was a very physical player. He liked to draw contact, dunk over them and put other players in foul trouble. As a result, he would lead the NBA in free throws made seven separate seasons (an NBA record). He was also a physical defender and rebounder, and one of the most durable players ever in the NBA, missing a total of five regular season games in his first 13 years (!) and still playing well at age 40, becoming the oldest player to log a triple-double and being a starter on the NBA Finalists, the Los Angeles Lakers. Malone's work ethic features prominently in his formative years in the NBA where he raised his free throw shooting percentage from below 50% to 75% in a few years. He also added a long range jump shot which made him virtually unguardable.

Malone was also thought of as one of the dirtiest players in the league and was sometimes accused of intentionally trying to harm other players.

Malone wore number 32 for the Utah Jazz. He wore number 11 for the Los Angeles Lakers (number 32 was retired honoring Magic Johnson) and also for the Dream Team (the players wore 4 to 15 to adhere to FIBA rules).

Malone was considered by some to be a rough player. There were numerous instances during his career where other players were injured as a result of Malone's physical playing style.

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