“Karl Malone schooled Shaquille O’Neal in front of Kobe Bryant!”: When The Mailman put on a show against The Diesel and the Lakers in the 1997 Playoffs

Before winning a three-peat with Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O’Neal and the Lakers had their fair share of struggles in the 90s.

Switching to the Purple and Gold in 1996, a 26-year-old Shaquille O’Neal was just hitting his absolute prime and looked ready to succeed. While his moment did come three years later with a 19-year-old Kobe Bryant stepping in as the second star, prior to the 1999-2000 season, it was Shaq who carried these Lakers teams to short playoff runs.

While these runs did not account for any championships, they did feature some of the best duels ‘the Diesel’ had in the playoffs. One of them was against the Western Conference giants Utah Jazz featuring the likes of Karl Malone and John Stockton.

While the duo could not win a title with the Jazz, the performance we will be talking about certainly showed the world why Malone was a 2-time MVP and one of the best power forwards to play the game. As for the Lakers, Shaq finally got a dependable superstar in Kobe who ultimately helped him win a historical three-peat.

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When Karl Malone schooled Shaquille O’ Neal and the Lakers in the 1997 playoffs

Facing off against a Jazz team who had one of the best records in the regular season, the Lakers certainly were in a tough spot. While the team had players like Nick Van Exel and Eddie Jones, they did not have a solid supporting cast surrounding O’Neal.

This certainly showed in the series against the Jazz as Utah, took a swift 2-1 lead of the series. Game 4 certainly was a make-or-break for the Lakers. If they won the game, they would equal the series and certainly would gain confidence against a juggernaut like the Jazz. But Karl Malone certainly was having none of it.

After a disappointing game 3 performance where he scored only 15 points, ‘the Mailman’ was a man on a mission in game 4. Starting off with 10 points in the first quarter, Malone made his intentions clear. Although Shaq looked like he was up for the task, scoring 12 points in the first quarter, he couldn’t keep up.

Ultimately Malone punished the smaller line-up of the Lakers scoring 42 points while O’Neal had a decent 32-point performance in a 110-95 win for Utah. The Jazz ultimately closed the series in game 5 and would go on to face the Bulls in the Finals.

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