There’s no denying the fact that John Stockton was a transcendental talent. However, it was the arrival of ‘The Mailman’ Karl Malone that transformed the Jazz from a fun little team that was better than people thought it was to one of the elite franchises in the NBA and a perennial title contender.
Like Stockton, he was a steal in the middle of the first round. And while some of the players taken in the lottery ended up becoming stars in their own right, none of them had a career like the Mailman.
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But that comes as no surprise; Malone was a two-time NBA MVP and arguably the best power forward in league history.
For a frame of reference, the three players taken immediately before Malone were Ed Pinckney, Keith Lee, and Kenny Green.
That’s one career role-player and two guys who were quickly out of the league if you’re keeping score at home.
It goes to show how unlikely it is to win big in the NBA Draft and Malone ranks among the biggest wins of all time.
As with Basketball John, I won’t keep you here reading his entire list of basketball accomplishments, but here are some of the most notable —
- NBA Most Valuable Player in ’97 and ’99
- 14-time NBA All-Star and ASG MVP in ’89 and ’93
- 11-time All-NBA First Team selection
- Two-time All-NBA second-team selection
- All-NBA third team in ’01
- Three-time All-Defensive First Team selection
- Two-time Olympic gold medalist
- No. 2 scorer in NBA history
In just under 1,500 career games, Malone averaged 25 points, 10 rebounds, four assists, and 1.4 steals per contest. Wow.