Utah Jazz forward Karl Malone was one of the most excellent and consistent players in the NBA. The man topped everyone in scoring in the 90s, including Michael Jordan.
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The 90s era is considered by most as the golden era in the NBA. This decade saw the rise of the most elite defence that the NBA had seen until that time, or probably it would see in years to come.
However great the defenders were, they could have stopped some prominent scorers in the NBA to a certain extent. Or it might be that most of those top defenders were also the top scorers in the game.
Michael Jordan, Hakeem Olajuwon, David Robinson, and Scottie Pippen were a few hybrids who did it all at the highest level, leading their teams to championships while earning countless individual accolades.
That’s not a shot at Patrick Ewing, Karl Malone, or Charles Barkley. As tremendous as they were on offence, their above-average defence was underrated because of their team’s overall defence or the GOATs mentioned above, on both ends of the court.
Speaking of offences, defences, and Malone, the unstoppable Jazz forward was the league’s top scorer in the 90s. That man was too big for guards and too quick for big men to be stopped.
Karl Malone scored 3300 more points than Michael Jordan in the 90s
Having arguably the best assists and steals machine, John Stockton, as his number 2, Malone, as we all know, was the NBA’s second-best scorer of all time for 21 years. He now stands at #3 after the 37-year-old LeBron James went past him this season.
The Mailman got most of his 36,928 career points in the decade we are discussing. The fitness god of the league outscored everyone in the NBA and scored 21,370 points while playing 82 games in all but 3 seasons (in two of those 3 he played 81).
Yup! We all know the fact that Jordan played 3 lesser seasons because of his two retirements. And that’s his fault, he grew bored with the game, he could have scored 40,000 points if he played 19-20 years like Kareem, LeBron, Karl, and Kobe.
He didn’t, and that is why we can debate about who is the GOAT until the end of the time. Otherwise, that would have been a fact rather than a discussion.
