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Karl Malone
One collector is trying to find a single signature from every man who ever played for the Jazz — all 370 of them, from the 1974 New Orleans team to today. For many of them, this page is the only one on the internet. Here is Karl Malone: what he did on the floor, a few things most people never knew, and every card that carries his name. If you have a better example of his signature, or a story about it, the note at the foot of this page still stands.
The Mailman delivered for 18 Jazz seasons after Utah took him 13th in 1985 — a pick he never saw coming, having already rented an apartment in Dallas certain the Mavericks would call his name. His 36,928 career points rank third in NBA history, he holds the records for free throws made and attempted, and with John Stockton he powered Utah to the 1997 and 1998 Finals and won Olympic gold twice.
The youngest of nine children, Malone was raised on a Louisiana farm by his single mother, Shirley. After retiring he joined the staff at Louisiana Tech and entered the Hall of Fame in 2010.
HOW HE CAME & WENTUtah took him 13th overall in 1985 and got eighteen seasons, two MVPs and two Finals out of him. He left in 2003 for the Lakers and a title shot, cutting his pay from $19.2 million to $1.5 million to do it — and by his own account to stop holding younger Jazz players back.
- Full name
- Karl Anthony Malone
- Utah Jazz tenure
- 1985–2003
- Position
- Forward
- Born
- 1963, Summerfield, Louisiana
- Height
- 6′9″ (206 cm)
- Weight
- 256 lb (116 kg)
- College
- Louisiana Tech
- Drafted
- 1985, 1st round (No. 13), Utah
With the Jazz
KARL MALONE · 1985–2003 · PER GAME| SEASON | TEAM | G | MPG | PPG | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1985–86 | UTA | 81 | 30.6 | 14.9 | 8.9 | 2.9 | 1.3 | 0.5 | .496 | .000 | .481 |
| 1986–87 | UTA | 82 | 34.8 | 21.7 | 10.4 | 1.9 | 1.3 | 0.7 | .512 | .000 | .598 |
| 1987–88 | UTA | 82 | 39.0 | 27.7 | 12.0 | 2.4 | 1.4 | 0.6 | .520 | .000 | .700 |
| 1988–89 | UTA | 80 | 39.1 | 29.1 | 10.7 | 2.7 | 1.8 | 0.9 | .519 | .313 | .766 |
| 1989–90 | UTA | 82 | 38.1 | 31.0 | 11.1 | 2.8 | 1.5 | 0.6 | .562 | .372 | .762 |
| 1990–91 | UTA | 82 | 40.3 | 29.0 | 11.8 | 3.3 | 1.1 | 1.0 | .527 | .286 | .770 |
| 1991–92 | UTA | 81 | 37.7 | 28.0 | 11.2 | 3.0 | 1.3 | 0.6 | .526 | .176 | .778 |
| 1992–93 | UTA | 82 | 37.8 | 27.0 | 11.2 | 3.8 | 1.5 | 1.0 | .552 | .200 | .740 |
| 1993–94 | UTA | 82 | 40.6 | 25.2 | 11.5 | 4.0 | 1.5 | 1.5 | .497 | .250 | .694 |
| 1994–95 | UTA | 82 | 38.1 | 26.7 | 10.6 | 3.5 | 1.6 | 1.0 | .536 | .268 | .742 |
| 1995–96 | UTA | 82 | 38.0 | 25.7 | 9.8 | 4.2 | 1.7 | 0.7 | .519 | .400 | .723 |
| 1996–97 | UTA | 82 | 36.6 | 27.4 | 9.9 | 4.5 | 1.4 | 0.6 | .550 | .000 | .755 |
| 1997–98 | UTA | 81 | 37.4 | 27.0 | 10.3 | 3.9 | 1.2 | 0.9 | .530 | .333 | .761 |
| 1998–99 | UTA | 49 | 37.4 | 23.8 | 9.4 | 4.1 | 1.3 | 0.6 | .493 | .000 | .788 |
| 1999–00 | UTA | 82 | 35.9 | 25.5 | 9.5 | 3.7 | 1.0 | 0.9 | .509 | .250 | .797 |
| 2000–01 | UTA | 81 | 35.7 | 23.2 | 8.3 | 4.5 | 1.1 | 0.8 | .498 | .400 | .793 |
| 2001–02 | UTA | 80 | 38.0 | 22.4 | 8.6 | 4.3 | 1.9 | 0.7 | .454 | .360 | .797 |
| 2002–03 | UTA | 81 | 36.2 | 20.6 | 7.8 | 4.7 | 1.7 | 0.4 | .462 | .214 | .763 |
| JAZZ TOTAL | 18 SEASONS | 1434 | 37.3 | 25.4 | 10.2 | 3.5 | 1.4 | 0.8 | .517 | .275 | .742 |
Season by season, regular season, with this franchise only. More info: Basketball-Reference ↗ · Wikipedia ↗
Did you know
KARL MALONE · 10 NOTES- Two-time NBA Most Valuable Player, in 1997 and 1999.
- Won Olympic gold with the 1992 Dream Team and again in 1996.
- An obsessive truck lover — he drove his own 18-wheeler, owned a trucking company, and spent off-seasons hunting and fishing.
- He and John Stockton trusted each other so completely they ran the same two-man play for nearly two decades.
- Left after eighteen seasons to chase the one thing Utah couldn't give him — a ring with the Lakers. He reached the 2004 Finals, lost, and retired without it.
- Wrestled in WCW — he teamed with Diamond Dallas Page against Hulk Hogan and Dennis Rodman at Bash at the Beach 1998, weeks after losing to Rodman's Bulls in the Finals.
- He scored a career-high 61 points against Milwaukee in January 1990 on 21-of-26 shooting, the most by a Jazz player since the move from New Orleans.
- In the off-season he phoned Stockton from the weight room before six in the morning to ask, "You getting your work done, son?"
- Locals in Ruston call his cluster of family-run businesses Malone Land, from an Arby's and a frozen custard stand to a cigar shop.
- In 2000 he got his own cereal, MVP Flakes, and boxes turned up at a Jazz playoff practice, where Olden Polynice complained they forgot the milk.
All photographs
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