Apart from being one of the greatest scorers in the game of basketball, Karl Malone was also one of the dirtiest ones the game has ever seen.
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At 6ft 9”, The Mailman was built like a bull who would not even need to use his off-arm while raising towards the rim.
Let alone arms, the man never gave it a thought to keep even his hammer-cum-sword like elbows down while sprinting with that 280-290 pound body.
Also read: Shaquille O’Neal Once Likened 6ft 4″ Dwyane Wade’s ‘Humble’ and ‘Shy Nature’ to that of a Superhero
Even Isiah Thomas caught that elbow once in his face and started pouring blood on the court, which didn’t sit well with a 14-year-old fan of the Pistons legend.
Kenyon Martin knocked out Karl Malone just to avenge Isiah Thomas
Kenyon Martin who wouldn’t enter the league until the end of that decade would frame Malone intentionally hitting 6’1 Isiah with his enormous elbow, in his mind and take the revenge after he would make it to the NBA in 2000.
In a recent episode of All the Smoke, with former NBA players Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson, the 6ft 9” former Nets All-Star talked about how he avenged his idol Thomas 10 years after that incident and laid down Malone as soon as he got the chance in 2001.
Can’t hate K-Mart for that. But why did The Mailman do that to Isiah in the first place?
The Mailman was a bulldozer who didn’t care much about his opponents
Malone was quite infamous in the first few years of making it into the league in 1985. There were numerous injured opponents with cuts and bruises all over their bodies after any game against the Utah Jazz, not just the Playoffs.
Days before that incident, Isiah was calling out the selection committee and players in the Dream Team for his snub and choosing John Stockton over him.
Following that, Zeke even put a 44-point show on the Jazz to make his point clear about John and bullied the Utah point guard throughout the game.
Seeking revenge for his #2, Karl bloodied Pistons point guard with an elbow right to his head and just received a $10,000 fine and a one-game suspension.
Although 10 years late, Karma did catch up to Malone in the form of a 24-year-old. And guess what Karl had to say about it?
“We play a physical game, but some things don’t have a place,” Malone said. “I don’t have anything to say about it. It will be interesting to see what happens. Nets president Rod Thorn used to be the police. He probably has a pipeline.”
Hilarious, isn’t it? K-Mart even got a lesser, $7,500 fine and a one-game suspension for punching a 38-year-old legend of the game. The league also liked what it saw.
