Karl Malone
Every time Karl Malone shows up somewhere, the same thought occurs to me: “Man, he’s still huge.” He looks just as formidable now as he did in his heyday.
I don’t know what the NBA’s second all-time leading scorer is doing in the gym nowadays, but it’s very clearly a lot more than the standard fare for your average retired basketball great. He still looks like he could go down on the low post and bang around with a Derrick Favors or a Steven Adams.
If a nearly 50-year-old Abdul-Rauf can do it, let’s give the Mailman a go!
In addition to his physical attributes, I suspect he can still bang down 18-20 foot jumpers as well. It’s been a few years at this point, but he showed as much when the NBA invited him to participate in the Shooting Stars contest during All-Star Weekend 2014.
That would make him a legitimate pick-and-pop threat in BIG3 play. Speaking of, screen-roll play is very much a part of the league, and I selfishly would want to see what a Williams-to-Malone one-two punch would look like.
Taking No. 12 out of that equation may seem like sacrilege to some, but I’ve got another role in mind for Basketball John.