If there was an alternate reality where you can take all of the 75 greatest players of all time and draft them based on their prime years, would you take Malone 16th overall if you didn't have assurances Stockton would be around for your next selection?
Nope. KG or TD would shut his ass down. Malone is a legitimate Hall of Famer and is overall not given enough credit by fans, but he isn't top 20 great. He played in an era perfect for him, with a coach perfect for him and with a guard perfect at getting him the ball. I will say this, he did usually out play Barkley head to head.
I wouldn't either, but it's nuanced. Malone/Stockton were a power-combo tag-team who maximized each other's ability with one another. You know how some of those older tag teams from pro wrestling worked, but some of them weren't quite as great without one another or one of the partners struggled by themselves to get over. They are probably the best NBA example of that, because I don't think either one would have been as revered, if they were on much weaker teams with non-HOFs around them, especially with the way the game was going. They also had a great coach. Malone has kind of old school game, where someone had to get him the ball in the post or in his spots, same with Stockton who was about the most traditional point guard you can find. The NBA Storyteller caught alot of flack from his mere video about stating "Stockton had no left," which he doesn't. I doubt someone in the modern game (last 10-15 years) could get into the NBA as point guard, even a wing player, not having at least a decent left-handed dribble. People will holler his numbers, awards, and stats, which were phenomenal. Stats can be very heavily a product of their time. With Stockton, he was not nearly as creative or as great a playmaker as say someone, like a Nash, CP3, or LeBron. Whose styles really were flipping the league on it's head, then came players, like Steph, Harden, and newer guys -- Luka, Trae, and Morant. They are on another level, even I throw hats at guys, like Rose, Penny, and Westbrook (when he plays more controlled). They are all pretty good scorers and shooters (3 point shooting is deadly). Skilled and talent-wise, I think Malone might arguably be lower on the list than guys, like McHale, Nowitzki, Webber, Wallace, ... going to catch hell for these next two as well...Brand and Pau Gasol. Most of those players can create their own offense, flawlessly, but the part Malone might have the advantage in is actually defense. Though, he's still not the best on that list. I feel the same way about Rodman and Reggie Miller, because in no other universe I would take either one over Bob Lanier, Adrian Dantley, Vince Carter, Tracy McGrady, Chris Webber, Pau Gasol, Alex English, Bernard King, or Yao Ming. Accomplishments/Media Darlings/Awards vs. Franchise players with much more responsibilities on their shoulders. To be fair, he also did pretty well against KG, head-to-head. Obviously, he was better in the beginning, but KG slowly outpaced him. Though, have to add Malone defended him pretty well in WCF in 2004. He also did a great job against TD in the previous round. He did have some good games/series against Duncan, but TD prevailed in more of them. Still, I don't think he is quite as good as those guys, by several miles. KG/TD are both arguably the greatest defensive players ever, and they are outstanding on offense. I can name almost 20 - 25 players I'd take over Malone and tell you why?
Awkward Jazz player question. Would you take John Stock over KPJ? And Karl Malone over Christian Wood? (same age, but for today's game).
i think pau gets underrated for memphis not winning when he was there. but he did so many things, especially interior passing, at a high level. on the other hand, malone would have 5 scoring titles if jordan didn't exist so i probably tend to underrate just how consistently malone was throwing up huge seasons. yeah, duncan had a bad series and the spurs were up 2-0 and blew that series. the fact 40 year old malone shut down duncan but the 90's jazz never even considered putting malone on hakeem always made me wonder if they made a mistake or if they just knew hakeem would massacre him in a way duncan wasn't capable of.
I think alot of us do, underrate Malone, but still no one would've really cared too much. Am I being petty? Very, but so what. Even without MJ, the Jazz still would been losing in first round and perhaps the championship round. They continued the trend, both times MJ left. Malone would've actually been a good choice to guard Dream, but no one was stopping Hakeem (92-96).
