Karl Malone

Karl Malone is a retired professional basketball player. He played 18 seasons for the Utah Jazz of the National Basketball Association. In the 18 seasons that Malone did play, he was one of the top players in the NBA. His career averages of twenty five points and over ten rebounds a game are very impressive. While Karl Malone never won a championship, his body of work still puts him the conversation with the likes of Tim Duncan, Charles Barkley, Kevin McHale, Kevin Garnett and Bob Pettit as potentially the greatest power forwards in NBA history.

In fact, one could argue that Karl Malone’s ability as a big man to either score facing the basket or punish a defender down low in the post had a major role in defining the power forward position in the sport. Karl wouldn’t be alone in those talents, but he perfected them in a way that only a handful of other players can claim to have done as well.

Karl Malone was drafted in 1985 by the Utah Jazz (13th overall). While with the team, Malone would team up with legendary point guard John Stockton. The two would become one of the most prolific tandems in NBA history, playing a record 1,412 regular-season games together while utilizing the pick and roll to near perfection. Karl Malone and John Stockton would lead the Jazz to the NBA Finals in 1997 and 1998, but were defeated both times by Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls.

Malone would again try to win the championship that had eluded him his entire career by joining the Los Angeles Lakers for the 2003-04 season. The Lakers made it to the Finals, but were defeated by the Detroit Pistons in five games. Unfortunately for Karl Malone, he suffered a knee injury in that season with the Lakers and eventually retired, never winning that elusive championship.

Karl Malone's son Demetrius Bell was drafted by the Buffalo Bills in the 2008 NFL Draft. Malone fathered Bell when he was 19 years old and his mother, Gloria, was 13. Malone and his son did not meet until Demetrius was 18. Malone told Demetrius that it was too late to be his father and he would have to make his own money.