Is Karl Malone The Greatest NBA Player To Never Win A Championship?
Karl Malone is one of the greatest to ever play the game of basketball and arguably the second best Power Forward behind the great Tim Duncan. He is a 2x NBA MVP, 14x NBA All-Star, 11x All- NBA First Team, 2x All- NBA Second Team, 1x All NBA Third Team, 3x NBA- All Defensive First Team and 1x NBA-All Defensive Second Team. He also has 2 Olympic Gold Medals to his name but like many greats of the Jordan-Era, Malone was never able to win a Championship.
Many All-Time Greats such as John Stockton, Patrick Ewing, Reggie Miller and Charles Barkley were unable to win a Championship due to the Chicago Bulls Dynasty but I feel Karl Malone is the Greatest Player to never win a Championship.
SCORING ABILITY
Second in All Time Scoring with 36,928 Points, Malone was gifted offensively his Size and Strength made him impossible to defend in the Low Block. Malone is also the All- Time Leader in Free Throw’s Made and Attempted which shows his ability to draw fouls and make the other team pay at the Free Throw Line, his FT% was a solid 74%. Malone’s contemporary big men like Shaq did not poses his shooting ability giving Malone an edge. Along with his Post Offense Malone was also gifted with a formidable Mid- Range Game which made him impossible to guard this too was a skill lacked by many Power Forwards of the time.
DEFENSIVE ABILITY
Malone’s defense earned him NBA All-Defensive First Team honors thrice and NBA All-Defensive Second Team honors once. With his strength Malone was able to defend the leagues elite centers, he averaged 7.7 Defensive Rebounds for his career. Malone was known for his quick hands and was able to strip offensive players of the ball, for his size Malone was also laterally quick and due to his superior strength opponents could not back him down in the post easily.
CONSISTENCY AND LONGEVITY
Malone had 17 seasons where he played more than 80 games and in those 17 seasons he had 10 seasons where he played a full 82 games. Malone was also extremely consistent throughout his career. Malone’s ability to remain healthy is extremely rare especially for a Power Forward. His Offensive Consistency as well as his longevity enabled him to extend his prime unlike players like Shaq or Charles Barkley who lost their prime early as they did not remain in shape.
STOCKTON AND MALONE
The duo of legendary Point Guard John Stockton and Karl Malone is the greatest duo to never win a Championship. Stockton is a Top 5 Point Guard of All Time and is the NBA All-Time Assist Leader with 15,806 Assists, he is also the NBA All- Time Steals Leader with 3,265 steals. This duo made the NBA Playoffs in each season they played together. The duo of Stockton and Malone led the Utah Jazz to the franchise’s only NBA Finals in 1997 and 1998 in both years they were defeated by the trio of Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen and Dennis Rodman.
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