Ranking the top 50 players in NBA history…
There aren’t many better power forwards in the history of the game than “The Mailman”.
Malone was insanely durable over his 19-year career, appearing in 82 games in 10 different seasons and only falling short of 80 games in two of them. You just don’t see that kind of durability in the modern NBA — not even close.
Malone’s consistent availability and talent as one of the best scorers in the world led to him becoming one of the NBA’s all-time leading scorers. Currently, only LeBron James and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar are above Malone on the all-time scoring list. He was also a great rebounder, averaging 10.1 per game over his career.
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Malone’s individual accolades include [two NBA MVP awards](https://www.si.com/fannation/backinthedaynba/michael-jordan-graciously-awarded-karl-malone-secondary-mvp-in-1997-01jvyjtyjx7e), 14 NBA All-Star appearances, and 14 All-NBA Team selections, with 11 consecutive First Team honors!
Of course, a ring eluded him. He led the Jazz to the NBA Finals in 1997 and 1998, though they lost both times to Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls.
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Malone won gold medals with the U.S. national team at the 1992 and 1996 Olympics.
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Recognized as one of the league’s greatest, he was named to the NBA 50th Anniversary Team in 1996 and the NBA 75th Anniversary Team in 2021, and was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2010, both individually and as part of the 1992 Dream Team.