Utah Jazz (1985–2003) Early years (1985–1987) In the
1985 NBA draft, the
Utah Jazz selected Karl Malone with the 13th overall pick. According to Malone's official NBA biography: "If professional scouts had correctly predicted the impact Karl Malone would have on the NBA, Malone would have been picked much higher than 13th in the 1985 NBA Draft." In fact, Malone was so convinced the
Dallas Mavericks were going to select him with the eighth choice that he had already rented an apartment in
Dallas. Instead, the Mavericks selected
Detlef Schrempf. Under head coach
Frank Layden, Malone averaged 14.9 points and 8.9 rebounds in his first season and made the 1986
NBA All-Rookie Team after coming in third for
Rookie of the Year votes. For the third consecutive season, the Jazz made the postseason but lost the first round of the
1986 playoffs to the Dallas Mavericks. In the four playoff games, Malone improved in his scoring with a 20 points per game average but was still subpar in shooting (49.6% field goals) and rebounds (8.9). After his second season, Malone became the Jazz's leader in average scoring (21.7 points) and rebounding (10.4 rebounds); in 24 of 29 games between February 1 and April 3, 1987, he was the leading scorer of the game. In the next round, the defending champions
Los Angeles Lakers, led by perennial All-Stars
Magic Johnson,
James Worthy, and
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, defeated the Jazz in seven games. In the seventh game of the series, Malone scored 31 points and had 15 rebounds, but the Lakers beat the Jazz 109–98 and eventually won the
1988 NBA Finals. In 11 playoff games in 1988, Malone averaged 29.7 points and 11.8 rebounds. Malone averaged 29.1 points in , good for second in the NBA behind
Michael Jordan, and 10.7 rebounds, which was fifth in the league. This scoring average was Malone's highest so far in his career. At the
1989 NBA All-Star Game, Malone finished with 28 points, 9 rebounds and 3 assists en route to his first
NBA All-Star MVP. The Jazz finished 51–31, but were swept in three games in the first round by the
Golden State Warriors. This season marked Malone's first with the
All-NBA First Team honor. On December 5, 1989, Malone scored 21 points and grabbed 19 rebounds in a 94–80 win over the home team, Cleveland Cavaliers. Seventeen days later, Malone recorded 52 points and 17 rebounds in a 114–100 road win over the Charlotte Hornets. On January 27, 1990, Malone scored a career-high 61 points in a 144–96 victory against the
Milwaukee Bucks. He made 21 of 26
field goals and 19 of 23 free throws. It was the most points scored by a Jazz player since the team moved to Utah from New Orleans. Although Malone was voted to the NBA All-Star Game for the third consecutive season, because of an ankle injury he sat out the game. He led the team in scoring in 24 of the last 26 games of the season; on March 29, 1990, against the
Golden State Warriors, Malone scored 49 points, and on April 12 against the
Lakers he scored 45. The Jazz, finishing the season 55–27, lost to the
Phoenix Suns within five games in the first round of the
playoffs, in which Malone averaged 25.2 points and 10.2 rebounds. For the second straight season, Malone finished second in the league in points per game behind Michael Jordan. Malone scored 40 or more points in five games this season. In its first-ever franchise Western Conference Finals appearance, in six games the Jazz lost in the playoffs for the second straight season to the
Portland Trail Blazers. Malone averaged 29.1 points on 52.1% shooting and 11.9 rebounds in the 1992 playoffs. On February 4, 1993, in a game against the Lakers, Malone surpassed 16,000 career points. He and his teammate John Stockton shared the
All-Star MVP award in
1993. In the West's 135–132 overtime win, Malone scored 28 points and pulled in 10 rebounds. The eventual
NBA champion Houston Rockets eliminated the Jazz from the Western Conference Finals in five games. For the first time in team history, in 1994–95, the Utah Jazz won 60 games. In addition, the team won 15 consecutive away games (the best such streak by the team, then the second-best streak in the league). Malone's 26.7 points per game ranked fourth in the NBA, and Malone became the 19th NBA player to reach 20,000 career points on January 20, 1995. In the
1995 playoffs, the Jazz lost to the
Houston Rockets for the second consecutive year, this time in the first round. The Jazz only made it as far as the Western Conference Finals in this period, losing to the
Portland Trail Blazers (1992), the
Houston Rockets (1994) and the
Seattle SuperSonics (1996).
Western Conference championship years (1996–1998) Malone returned from a
gold medal winning-effort at the 1996 Summer Olympics leading the Jazz to two consecutive NBA Finals appearances. During the 1996–97 season, Malone put up a resurgent 27.4 points per game while leading the Jazz to a 64–18 record, the most regular-season wins in team history. Malone won his first
NBA Most Valuable Player award, and the Jazz were the top team in the
Western Conference and the playoff champions in that conference. After sweeping the
Los Angeles Clippers and defeating the
Los Angeles Lakers, the Jazz took on the
Houston Rockets, led by the aging trio of
Hakeem Olajuwon,
Charles Barkley, and
Clyde Drexler. The Jazz beat them in six games (the last victory coming on a last-second shot by Stockton). Malone finally reached the NBA Finals in
1997, where they played the
Jordan-led
Chicago Bulls. In a matchup of the two previous MVPs, the Bulls won the first two games at the
United Center. Malone struggled from the field, going 6 of 20 for 20 points in Game 2. However, the Jazz won the next two games at the
Delta Center behind Malone's 37 points in Game 3 and 23 in Game 4, including a game-winning fastbreak lay-up off a spectacular assist by Stockton in the last minute. The Bulls won the next two games and the series, with Malone struggling from the foul line in Game 6. The next season saw the Jazz once again dominate. Malone put up 27 points per game and just missed out on his second MVP award, losing to Jordan. Nevertheless, the Jazz posted a 62–20 record, which was the best in the NBA. The Jazz once again were seated at the top of the Western Conference, and in the 1998 playoffs they defeated the
Rockets,
Spurs, and
Lakers via a sweep en route to their second consecutive
Finals appearance. The rematch with the
Chicago Bulls would start differently, as Malone put up 21 points and the Jazz won Game 1, 88–85. Malone found himself unable to put up consistently high numbers, due in large part to the swarming defense of defenders
Dennis Rodman and
Scottie Pippen. In Game 5 of the 1998 Finals, Malone led the Jazz in scoring with 39 points, and the Jazz beat the Bulls 83–81 in Chicago. Malone scored his 39 points on 17-for-27 shooting and also made 9 rebounds, 5 assists, and 1 turnover. Many of his shots were "mid-range turnaround jumpers from the left side". A
sixth game of the Finals was held at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City, and by trailing the series 3–2 the team was one loss away from losing the series. Malone scored 31 points and made 11 rebounds. Although the Jazz held leads of 49–45 by halftime and 66–61 after the third quarter, the team squandered their lead in the fourth and would lose after Malone lost a pass in the
post. With 18.9 seconds left in the fourth quarter and the Jazz leading 86–85, Bulls guard/forward
Michael Jordan stole the ball just passed to Malone and with 5.2 seconds left made a jump shot that gave the Bulls an 87–86 lead.
John Stockton missed a game-winning jump shot. Jordan's shot has been dubbed the "greatest shot" of his career, and the Bulls' 1998 title was their third consecutive championship and sixth since 1991.
Later seasons with Jazz (1998–2003) On November 12, 1998, during the
lockout that shortened the 1998–99 season, Malone declared on his Los Angeles-based radio show that he would demand a trade from the Jazz after the end of the lockout, citing a lack of respect from the team owner
Larry H. Miller and the Utah media, which he dubbed "goons". A week later, Malone backed off on his trade demands, stating in an interview that he would still love to play for the Jazz with "everything else being equal". The NBA regular season resumed in February and Malone won his second MVP award, with the Jazz going 37–13 during the 50-game regular season. They lost in the second round that year to the
Trail Blazers, and for the next several years the Jazz fell out of title contention. The Jazz won Game 5 of the second-round
1999 round against the Blazers 88–71 to force a sixth game, and Malone scored 23 points. In that game, Malone elbowed the Blazers'
Brian Grant, something he also did in Game 1 and for which he was fined $10,000. Despite the decline of his team and his advancing age, Malone averaged 25.5, 23.2, 22.4, and 20.6 points per game in his last four seasons with Utah. He became a free agent in 2003, the year Stockton had retired. For the time Malone and Stockton played together on the Jazz (1985–2003), the two formed one of the most productive guard–forward combinations in NBA history. Playing coach
Jerry Sloan's scrappy and tough style and perfecting the
pick and roll to a maximum degree of efficiency, the Jazz regularly made the playoffs with a winning record. Malone led the Jazz to multiple 50-win seasons with the exception of
1992–93 (47–35).
Los Angeles Lakers (2003–2004) Malone played in the NBA for one more season, joining the
Los Angeles Lakers in an attempt to win a championship. All-Star point guard
Gary Payton also joined the Lakers in an attempt to win his first NBA championship, and with Malone, Payton,
Shaquille O'Neal and
Kobe Bryant, the Lakers were favorites to win the title. The No. 32 jersey Malone had worn for 19 years with the Jazz was already retired in honor of
Magic Johnson, and while Johnson offered to allow Malone to wear the number, Malone ultimately declined, and instead wore a number 11 jersey. The Lakers rolled out to a dominant 18–3 start to the season, but on December 21, Malone suffered a knee injury against the
Phoenix Suns that forced him to miss 39 games. Malone returned by the season's end, as the Lakers entered the playoffs with 56 wins and the number 2 seed in the playoffs. In the first round against the
Houston Rockets, Malone posted double-figure scoring in 4 games, including a 30-point and 13-rebound effort in the Lakers' game 4 victory. The Lakers advanced to face the
San Antonio Spurs in the conference semifinals, where Malone played a critical role on defense against
Tim Duncan, despite not scoring more than 13 points in any game during the series. The Lakers defeated the Spurs in 6 games in the conference semifinals before defeating the
Minnesota Timberwolves in 6 games in the conference finals to advance to the NBA Finals. He scored 17 points on two occasions against Minnesota and averaged 11.5 points and 8.8 rebounds a game in the playoffs. The 40-year-old Malone's quest to win an NBA championship failed as the Lakers were defeated in five games by the
Detroit Pistons in the
2004 NBA Finals. Malone sprained his right knee in game three and played injured in games three and four before missing the fifth and final game of the series.
Retirement After his season with the Lakers, Malone became a
free agent. He had knee surgery during the summer of 2004, and personal problems with Lakers guard
Kobe Bryant, who prompted Malone not to return for another season with the team. The
New York Knicks sought to sign Malone for 2004–05. In early February 2005, prior to the
2005 NBA All-Star Game, Malone's agent speculated that Malone would sign with the
San Antonio Spurs. Spurs head coach
Gregg Popovich confirmed his team was interested in signing Malone, should he decide to play one more season. At a press conference on February 13, 2005, at the Delta Center, Malone officially announced his retirement from the NBA after 19 seasons. The Utah Jazz retired Malone's jersey number 32 on March 23, 2006, when the Jazz hosted the
Washington Wizards. He was also honored with the unveiling of a
bronze statue outside the
EnergySolutions Arena next to teammate
John Stockton, and the renaming of a portion of 100 South in
Salt Lake City in his honor. The location where the statues stand is now the intersection of Stockton and Malone. ==Olympic career==