You want to know something crazy, Utah Jazz fans? When LeBron James first entered the NBA, John Stockton had just retired, and Karl Malone had left the team for his swan song in LA. Feel old yet?
Well, if you don't, prepare to feel even older. LeBron and the Los Angeles Lakers are about to start their playoff run. As tough as it will be for them to survive without Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves, it's worth noting that James is about to start his 19th playoff run.
Not surprising since he's been in the NBA since 2003, but by embarking on his 19th postseason, James ties the two most esteemed Jazz alumni for most playoff runs among individual players.
LeBron James will begin his 19th trip to the NBA Playoffs, tying Karl Malone and John Stockton for the most in league history.
— NBA Communications (@NBAPR) April 16, 2026
James is the career playoff leader in multiple categories, including points.
The Lakers host the Rockets in Game 1 on Saturday at 8:30 PM ET on ABC. pic.twitter.com/wYTkhQeMDH
James missed the playoffs the first two years of his career in Cleveland before he started making his mark in the league in 2006. What many forget is that he missed the playoffs in 2019 in his first year with the Lakers. As it turns out, while Father Time hasn't affected James much, injuries and dysfunction can ruin anyone's season, including his.
Given how rare a specimen he has been among professional athletes, it is actually pretty shocking that he's missed the playoffs three times. And even so, he managed to reach a mark the NBA hasn't seen since Malone and Stockton. It also says something about the iconic Jazz duo.
Those two really are the benchmark of consistent excellence.
Malone and Stockton never winning a ring together overshadows that the two of them did everything in their power to live up to their potential that they were competing in the playoffs in their 40s.
It's how the two of them are up there for so many NBA records. They aren't just the two best Jazzmen ever, two of the best NBA players ever, but were one of the best duos ever because they were consistently good year in and year out.
The fact that no NBA player has been able to reach the same mark they have in terms of playoff appearances up until James did it in Year 23 further shows the kind of example they left (from a basketball perspective) for the players that came after them.
It will surprise absolutely no one if James surpasses them next season (as long as he chooses wisely in free agency this summer), but even so, Malone and Stockton did something no one in the league has ever done before them, and since their respective retirements over 20 years ago, only one player has tied them.
And it just happens to be the one player many consider to be the greatest basketball player of all time. When people call Malone and Stockton legends, they really should use how they're in this rare company with LeBron James to prove it.
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