Karl Malone was a dominant scorer when he had hair and when he was bald and according to Shaun Powell, that is the mark of an all-time great.
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Karl Malone was undoubtedly one of the greatest players to have taken to NBA hardwood. Widely regarded as the greatest player to have never won a championship, ‘The Mailman’ unfortunately couldn’t get over the Michael Jordan hump (like most of the league in the 90s) in two consecutive NBA Finals.
The Utah Jazz legend played 19 seasons in the NBA, playing either 82, 81, or 80 games in 17 of those seasons, establishing himself as a true ‘Iron-Man’ in the league. He holds the record for most 20 point/ 10 rebound games since 1983-84 with a whopping 706, with Shaquille O’Neal a distant second.
Malone’s career averages stand at an incredibly impressive 25 points and 10.1 rebounds, and he sits at 2nd place in the total regular season points table with 36928.
Playing from age 22 all the way up to age 40, Karl Malone dominated the league over the span of three decades with John Stockton at his side.
Karl Malone dominated with and without hair.
Being a part of the illustrious NBA75 club meant having a feature written on you by the NBA. Shaun Powell was assigned this task for Karl Malone and he certainly did not disappoint. In an attempt to analogize the longevity ‘The Mailman’ had, he said:
“Malone could score when he had hair and he could score when the hair was gone. That’s the mark of an all-time great, someone who endured and lasted and performed at a high level for two decades.”
Karl Malone wasn’t the only NBA legend to achieve such a ‘feat’ as guys like Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan, and Shaquille O’Neal all ended their careers with considerably less hair than what they started with.
