Karl Malone
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Karl Malone
Of course it’s impossible to talk about John Stockton without discussing Karl Malone. Rarely are two players so intertwined in their career than these two guys were, especially in an era of constant roster turnover and stars switching teams far more frequently, though unfortunately Lakers were not able to pair the two up in the creation draft, choosing Kevin Johnson as Malone’s running mate instead.
Unlike some previous retirements we’ve seen in SLN, Malone remained a top contributor up until the (surprising) end. His first two years with the Lakers, Malone was First Team All League at PF, averaging a ~20/11/3 with ~2 stocks per game; his presumably top-rated strength allowed him to leave at the free throw line and constantly put opposing bigs into foul trouble.
After being traded across the Crypto.com Center hallway Clippers prior to the 98 season, Malone was “only” voted to Third Team All League, but arguably had his best season yet, boosting his scoring to 24 ppg on a tasty 52% from the field. Freed from primary defensive responsibilities with Dikembe patrolling the point, he co-starred with Allan Houston to carry the Clippers to a 52-30 record before a disappointing first-round exit to the Grizzlies. While Bobby was surely disappointed to lose Malone as he appeared to be a perfect fit with the team, as they say “smile because it happened”; congrats to Karl Malone for going out somewhat near the peak of his SLN powers.
Continuing a similar theme as Stockton in being from previously unheralded basketball locales, The Mailman was born in rural Louisiana and went to Louisiana Tech before being drafted by the Utah Jazz. His accomplishments are even more extensive than Stockton’s; he was a 2x MVP (at the age of 34 and 36!), 14x All Star, and 11x All NBA First Team. For pretty much every year during the 90s, you could go ahead and pencil in the Mailman for that first team PF spot, the definition of consistency.
Malone retired as the second all-time leading scorer in NBA history, a pretty impressive accomplishment, but similar to Stockton unfortunately retired ringless (he had yet another close call with the Lakers in 04 where his sprained ankle was a sneaky critical injury). Another worthy honorary HoF selection; just don’t google “Karl Malone vanessa Bryant comments”. Matter of fact, don’t google anything about his personal life at all.
Unlike some previous retirements we’ve seen in SLN, Malone remained a top contributor up until the (surprising) end. His first two years with the Lakers, Malone was First Team All League at PF, averaging a ~20/11/3 with ~2 stocks per game; his presumably top-rated strength allowed him to leave at the free throw line and constantly put opposing bigs into foul trouble.
After being traded across the Crypto.com Center hallway Clippers prior to the 98 season, Malone was “only” voted to Third Team All League, but arguably had his best season yet, boosting his scoring to 24 ppg on a tasty 52% from the field. Freed from primary defensive responsibilities with Dikembe patrolling the point, he co-starred with Allan Houston to carry the Clippers to a 52-30 record before a disappointing first-round exit to the Grizzlies. While Bobby was surely disappointed to lose Malone as he appeared to be a perfect fit with the team, as they say “smile because it happened”; congrats to Karl Malone for going out somewhat near the peak of his SLN powers.
Continuing a similar theme as Stockton in being from previously unheralded basketball locales, The Mailman was born in rural Louisiana and went to Louisiana Tech before being drafted by the Utah Jazz. His accomplishments are even more extensive than Stockton’s; he was a 2x MVP (at the age of 34 and 36!), 14x All Star, and 11x All NBA First Team. For pretty much every year during the 90s, you could go ahead and pencil in the Mailman for that first team PF spot, the definition of consistency.
Malone retired as the second all-time leading scorer in NBA history, a pretty impressive accomplishment, but similar to Stockton unfortunately retired ringless (he had yet another close call with the Lakers in 04 where his sprained ankle was a sneaky critical injury). Another worthy honorary HoF selection; just don’t google “Karl Malone vanessa Bryant comments”. Matter of fact, don’t google anything about his personal life at all.
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