<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Karl Malone, whose two-decade pursuit of an NBA championship ended in pain and frustration last month, has undergone knee surgery and plans to retire, a source close to the legendary forward said Wednesday. A lock for the Hall of Fame, Malone leaves the game as the second-leading scorer in league history, but without the one token that drove him for 19 seasons and moved him to join the Lakers, at a massive pay cut, last summer. </div> One of the games greatest and dirtiest players...Mailman Done
One of the 50 greatest basketball plaers of all time leaves. We will all miss him, and hope he has a great and safe life. Good-bye Karl Malone. Let's just look at his whole career with the Jazz and Lakers once again. <ul> [*]Selected in 1996 as one of the "50 Greatest Players in NBA History" [*]Two-time NBA Most Valuable Player (1996-97, 1998-99), one of only nine players in NBA history to win the Maurice Podoloff Trophy more than once [*]Eleven-time All-NBA First Team selection (1988-89, 1989-90, 1990-91, 1991-92, 1992-93, 1993-94, 1994-95, 1995-96, 1996-97, 1997-98 and 1998-99), two-time All-NBA Second Team selection (1987-88 and 1999-2000), and a 2000-01 All-NBA Third Team selection [*]Three-time NBA All-Defensive First Team selection (1996-97, 1997-98 and 1998-99) and a 1987-88 NBA All-Defensive Second Team selection [*]Fourteen-time NBA All-Star selection who played in 12 games (missed 1990 game due to injury and the 2002 game due to family illness), including 10 consecutive contests from 1991 to 2001 [*]Named MVP of the 1989 All-Star Game in Houston after registering 28 points and nine rebounds, and named co-MVP with teammate John Stockton of the 1993 All-Star Game in Salt Lake City after tallying 28 points and 10 rebounds [*]Ranks second all-time in points scored with 36,374, behind only Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (38,387) [*]Holds the NBA record most consecutive seasons scoring 2,000 or more points (11, 1987-88 to 1997-98) and shares the record with Michael Jordan for most career 2,000 point seasons (11, 1987-88 to 1997-98) [*]Tied Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (17) for most consecutive seasons scoring at least 20.0 points per game (17, 1986-87 to 2002-03) [*]Scored a career-high 61 points, the most by a Jazz player since the franchise moved to Utah, against the Milwaukee Bucks on 1/27/90 [*]Scored a Jazz playoff-record 50 points and grabbed 12 boards against the Seattle SuperSoncics on 4/22/00 [*]Holds the NBA record for most seasons leading the league in free-throws made (seven, 1988-89 to 1992-93, 1996-97, 1997-98) and most consecutive seasons leading the league in free-throws made (1988-89 to 1992-93) [*]Passed Moses Malone (8,531) to become the NBA's all-time leader in free throws made on 3/24/01 vs. the Washington Wizards [*]Became the all-time leader in free throws attepmted on 12/10/01 against the Mavericks [*]Ranks second all-time in field-goals made with 13,335 behind only Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (15,837) [*]Ranks second all-time in minutes played at 53,479, trailing only Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (57,446) [*]Ranks seventh all-time in rebounds, with 14,601 [*]Appeared in the 1997 and 1998 NBA Finals against the Chicago Bulls [*]Named to the 1985-86 NBA All-Rookie Team and finished third in Rookie of the Year balloting after averaging 14.9 ppg and 8.9 rpg [*]A member of the men's basketball "Dream Team" that won the gold medal at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona and the 1996 Dream Team that won gold in Atlanta [*]Winner of the 1997-98 IBM Award [*]During career, named NBA Player of the Week 22 times and NBA Player of the Month seven times [*]Notched his third career triple-double with game-highs of 29 points (11-13 FG) and 12 rebounds, and 10 assists, in a 99-82 win over the L.A. Clippers on 5/4/99; recorded his second career triple-double with 32 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists against the Toronto Raptors on 2/27/97 [*]Twelve-time NBA All-Interview First Team selection and 1999-2000 All-Interview Second Team selection. [/list]
Wow, this is really sad news. Without question, one of the greatest players to ever play this game, and it's really a shame that this year he couldn't give it his all to win a championship in his 19 year career due to his knee giving way again. I appreciate everything he did for our Lakers even though he couldn't play a full 82 games and use his leadership to win us some games in the Finals. He'll be sorely missed.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Emo:</div><div class="quote_post">Wow, this is really sad news. Without question, one of the greatest players to ever play this game</div> Amen bro... hats off to one of the hardest working most durable to ever play the game.
What a great player and arguably the best PF of all time. Its sad to see him leave under these circumstances and not have a healthier closing to his career, but he was a warrior in every sense of the word and he will be sorely missed among the true legion of basketball fans who appreciated his effort, hard work and dedication in honor and respect of the game...
Ring or no ring, Karl Malone had a phenomenal NBA career, and will go down as one of the greatest PF's of all-time, if not the best. Seeing him go, makes me feel bad when one of today's stars will soon have to call it quits as well. Such as Kidd, Iverson, Shaq, Webber etc...
damn there are some crackheads on this website. does anyone ever go to espn.com? there is a whole article about how all the stuff said about malone retiring is NOT TRUE http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=1832773
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">damn there are some crackheads on this website.</div> I’m hoping that comment was directed at us… Anyways, I still believe Karl Malone will retire. That injury he suffered last season was without a doubt the biggest injury in his career. At the age of 40, I don't think his body will be able to respond to such an injury. The only way I see him returning is, if and ONLY he ends up on a championship bound team. The way the Lakers are looking right now, I highly doubt he wants anything to do with them. So I believe it going to come down on what team would be available.
I believe he's going to retire. He's 40 years old and his body is starting to go downhill on him. He was plagued by during this last season and in the Finals. I don't see him coming back unless he goes to a team that is a contender, and, it showed last year that it didn't work. I don't think he comes back and tries to win the title again. I think he's done. He had a great career and the only thing he'll be missing is a ring.
