Karl Malone was drafted by the Jazz in the 1985 NBA Draft (13th overall) as an undergraduate out of Louisiana Tech. He was named to the All-Rookie Team following the 1985-86 season and was third in voting for Rookie of the Year. He has missed just four games in his 11-year career. In 898 regular season games, he is averaging 25.9 points and 10.8 rebounds per game. His best season was in 1989-90 when he averaged a team high 31.0 points per game (2nd in the league) while leading the team in rebounding with 11.1. Karl has averaged over 20 points per game in 10 of his 11 seasons. He has been selected to the All-NBA First Team eight straight years (1989 thru 1996) and was on the All-NBA Second Team in 1988. Malone was also named to the NBA All-Defensive Second Team in 1988 and was selected to play in nine NBA All-Star games in his career (1988 thru1996). Karl averaged 17.5 points and 7.5 rebounds per game in those contests. He was named the MVP of the 1989 All-Star game in Houston, and Co-MVP (with teammate John Stockton) of the 1993 All-Star game in Salt Lake City. Malone finished 3rd in NBA MVP voting in 1994-95, receiving 14 first place votes. He was a member of the original Olympic “Dream Team” and represented the USA again in last summer’s Olympic Games in Atlanta.
PLAY-OFFS:
In 97 playoff games Karl Malone has played over the last10 seasons, he has averaged 27.2 points and 11.4 rebounds. He averaged 30.7 points per game in the 1989 playoffs (in three games). He also averaged 30.2 points per game in a five game series against Houston in 1995. He has never averaged less than 20.9 points per game in the playoffs, and has never been under 24.0 points per game in his last nine playoffs. Malone pulled down 16.3 rebounds in three games in 1989. He averaged 13.3 rebounds per game in nine games in 1991, and 13.2 rebounds per game in 1995. In the 18 playoff games in 1996, Karl averaged 26.5 points per game (including five games of 30 or more) and pulled down 10.3 rebounds per game. Malone has scored 2,646 career playoff points and rebounded 1,111 rebounds in his 97 games.
COLLEGE CAREER:
Karl played 3 seasons at Louisiana Tech before deciding to forego his senior year of eligibility for the 1985 NBA Draft. In three seasons at Lousiana Tech, he was the school’s 3rd all-time leading scorer with an 18.7 point per game average. He was 6th in rebounding with a 9.3. Karl acheived the All-Southland Conference Newcomer of the Year and Player of the Year as a freshman. He also acheived the All-Southland Conference First Team three times. Karl led the team in scoring and rebounding his entire college career. He averaged 20.9 points per game with 10.1 rebounds his freshman year, 18.8 points per game with 8.8 rebounds his sophomore year and 16.5 points per game with 9.3 rebounds his junior year. Karl was named Collegiate Player-of-the-Year at Louisiana Tech in 1983.
THE 1995-96 SEASON:
Karl Malone had another stellar season with a 25.7 point per game average (4th in the NBA), and 9.8 rebounds per game average (11th in the league), while playing in all 82 games for the 4th consecutive season. Karl topped the 2,000 point plateau for the 9th consecutive year and moved to 11th on the NBA’s all-time scoring list with 23,325 career points. He led the Jazz in scoring in 65 of the 82 games while shooting .517 from the field and .724 from the line. Karl scored 30 or more points per game eighteen times, 40 or more points per game three times. His season was topped by a staggering 51 points against Golden State on Dec. 9, 1995. Malone recorded 41 point/rebound double-doubles, with three 20 point / 20 rebound games. He pulled down a season-high 22 rebounds on Dec. 7, 1995 against Denver. He also registered the first triple-double of his career on Feb. 2, 1996 against the LA Clippers (27 points, 15 rebounds, 10 assists). Malone finished second on the team in assists with an average of 4.2 per game, bringing his career total to 345. He was 13th in the NBA in steals (1.68 per game) while he played in 385 straight games, scoring double figures in all of them. Malone moved past Mark Eaton into 2nd place in Jazz games played and has now played in 898 of the possible 902 games in his 11-year career. He was named to All-NBA First Team and was NBA “Player of the Week” for the week of Dec. 25-31 and was selected to his 9th consecutive NBA All-Star Game where he achieved 11 points and 9 rebounds in the 20 minutes he played.
PERSONAL:
Karl and his wife, Kay, are the parents of three children: two daughters named Kadee Lynn and Kylee Ann and a son named Karl, Jr. His wife Kay is a former Miss Idaho USA. Karl enjoys hunting and fishing. He owns a cattle ranch in Arkansas, and operates Karl Malone Toyota in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He has a workout and weight training facility in a Salt Lake warehouse, where he also keeps his collection of cars, motorcycles and trucks (including his 18-wheeler). Karl is heavily involved in Prevention of Child Abuse and Children’s Justice Center, and has been a supporter of Utah Special Olympics. Karl also has his own western wear clothing line. His nickname “Mailman” came from a Louisiana sports writer who gave him the monicker because he always “delivers”. In high school, he led Summerfield High School in Los Angeles to three consecutive state championships and was named a high school All-American. Karl is the second youngest of nine children in his family. Malone has been featured at various times in his career in The Sporting News, LA Times, USA Today, Sports Illustrated, and others, along with making appearances on The Arsenio Hall Show, NBC’s Today Show, Entertainment Tonight as well as Regis and Kathy Lee.
