 Karl
Malone still misjudged
by most NBA scouts
passed him up to the
Utah Jazz as the 13th
overall pick. After a
good but not great
college basketball
career Karl had finally
made it to the top and
was not about to let
down. Karl was nicknamed
"The Mailman" while he
played at Louisiana Tech
because he always
delivers. The 15 year
Utah Jazz went from a
small farm boy who knew
nothing about Utah, to
being the star and
leader of the team. Karl
Malone has been the MVP
twice in 1996-97 and
1998-99 and 14 out of
his
15 years in the NBA he
has been an All-Star
selection. Karl being
the great power forward
that he is was named one
of the "50 Greatest
Players in NBA History".
Karl Malone is an 11
time All- NBA First Team
selection...Book
Karl Malone for Your Event
The
year the Jazz drafted
Karl Malone they made it
to the NBA playoffs for
the third time in a row
but, lost to the Dallas
Mavericks in the first
round. Karl scored an
average of 21.8 points
and 7.5 rebounds in the
four postseason games.
During his rookie year
he averaged fewer than
20 points a game and
shot less then 50
percent from the field
and for the only time in
his career did not reach
double digits in
rebounding, averaging
8.9 rebounds a game.
Karl Malone's next
season he realized the
potential he had and
brought his game to a
whole level. He was the
leading scorer on his
team 51 times and
appeared in all 82 of
his games, but was
denied all NBA honors.
Which is surprising
since he was having such
a great year. He scored
a season-high of 38
points twice, against
the Portland Trail
Blazers on January 13
and against the
SuperSonics in Seattle
on February 24. After
Malone had a great
season scoring in the
20's or 30's he
struggled in the
postseason against the
Golden State Warriors
only scoring .420 from
the field, getting only
20 points a game and
averaging 9.6 rebounds
in the five games
played. The Jazz went up
two games to none on the
Warriors but then lost
the next three resulting
in the Jazz being
knocked out the first
round.
Karl Malone real super
stardom happened the
1988-89 season when
former teammate (Point
Guard) John Stockton
joined the team. Karl
was averaging 27.7
points a game and
reached a career high of
12.0 rebounds. In the
league he ranked fifth
in scoring and fourth in
rebounding. John
Stockton wasn't actually
shining until four years
after he was drafted by
the Jazz. In the fourth
year of his NBA career
led the NBA in assists
with an average of 13.0
assists per game. Many
of those assists went to
the Mailman, Karl Malone
for the hammer dunk. The
ultimate duo was born.
John and Karl were named
All-NBA second team and
the first appearance in
the all-star game. Karl
again made it to the
playoffs after having a
great season and playing
in all 82 of the Jazz
games. Once again the
Jazz made it to the
playoffs with Karl's
great skills and
appreciation for the
game averaging over 27
points a game. Blazing
through the Portland
Trail Blazers in the
first round of the
playoffs the Jazz
encounter the L.A
Lakers. Karl really
enhanced his game but
only enough to take the
Lakers to a game seven
where the Lakers to over
winning 109-98 victory.
The next season the Jazz
coach Frank Layden
continued up as the team
president and the
assistant coach Jerry
Sloan took over as the
head coach of the Jazz
17 games into the
season. Once again Karl
and John Stockton led
the Jazz to the Playoffs
but lost to the Golden
State Warriors. Karl
earned MVP honors in the
1989 All-Star game in
houston and once again
scored another season
high this time against
the Philedelpia 76ers
scoring 44 points.
>>> Book Karl Malone for Your Event
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