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Today is Utah Jazz legend, Hall of Famer power forward Karl Malone's 52nd birthday. He's hurt every team in the league. Here is his *best* game against each team in the league. Now, it's not his most influential games, or most all-around game. There are a number of triple doubles, or near misses of them, that you don't see here. This is straight up the games with the biggest numbers for BARPS (Blocks + Assists + Rebounds + Points + Steals). I've also included the dates and his approximate age for the event of devastation. Karl Malone is awesome. Every team knows it. And well, he's really wrecked a lot of teams. It's ridiculous. This was one of the most fun posts to do. Check out the results:
vs. Eastern Conference
Conf | Division | Game | Date | Min | PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | AGE | BARPS | /min | |||||
1 | E | Atlantic | @ | Sixers | DEC | 20 | 2000 | 43 | 41 | 13 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 37.41 | 63 | 1.47 | |
2 | E | Atlantic | vs | Celtics | FEB | 20 | 1997 | 40 | 34 | 16 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 33.58 | 60 | 1.50 | |
3 | E | Atlantic | vs | Raptors | FEB | 27 | 1997 | 41 | 32 | 13 | 10 | 3 | 1 | 33.60 | 59 | 1.44 | |
4 | E | Atlantic | vs | Nets | FEB | 28 | 2000 | 44 | 35 | 12 | 9 | 0 | 2 | 36.60 | 58 | 1.32 | |
5 | E | Atlantic | @ | Knicks | MAR | 9 | 1991 | 44 | 34 | 18 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 27.62 | 57 | 1.30 | |
1 | E | Central | vs | Bucks | JAN | 27 | 1990 | 33 | 61 | 18 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 26.51 | 84 | 2.55 | |
2 | E | Central | vs | Bulls | FEB | 2 | 1992 | 57 | 34 | 21 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 28.53 | 63 | 1.11 | |
3 | E | Central | vs | Pacers | DEC | 15 | 1990 | 41 | 33 | 22 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 27.39 | 63 | 1.54 | |
4 | E | Central | vs | Pistons | JAN | 20 | 1988 | 43 | 39 | 13 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 24.49 | 59 | 1.37 | |
5 | E | Central | vs | Cavaliers | JAN | 25 | 1998 | 39 | 36 | 12 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 24.51 | 56 | 1.44 | |
1 | E | South East | @ | Hornets | DEC | 22 | 1989 | 43 | 52 | 17 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 26.41 | 74 | 1.72 | |
2 | E | South East | @ | Magic | MAR | 12 | 2003 | 42 | 40 | 9 | 7 | 4 | 0 | 39.63 | 60 | 1.43 | |
3 | E | South East | @ | Heat | DEC | 19 | 1996 | 44 | 35 | 16 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 33.41 | 58 | 1.32 | |
4 | E | South East | vs | Hawks | JAN | 16 | 1992 | 40 | 37 | 14 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 28.48 | 57 | 1.43 | |
5 | E | South East | vs | Wizards | DEC | 3 | 1990 | 36 | 38 | 15 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 27.36 | 56 | 1.56 |
we all know about the game against the Bucks, but man, Karl has pretty much owned the East and their smallish bigmen.
vs. Western Conference
Conf | Division | Game | Date | Min | PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | AGE | BARPS | /min | |||||
1 | W | Northwest | @ | Nuggets | JAN | 6 | 1990 | 47 | 48 | 14 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 26.45 | 68 | 1.45 | |
2 | W | Northwest | @ | Trail Blazers | FEB | 4 | 1988 | 43 | 41 | 19 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 24.53 | 68 | 1.58 | |
3 | W | Northwest | vs | Thunder | APR | 22 | 2000 | 43 | 50 | 12 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 36.75 | 66 | 1.53 | |
4 | W | Northwest | vs | Timberwolves | APR | 14 | 1998 | 36 | 44 | 14 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 34.72 | 66 | 1.83 | |
5 | W | Northwest | @ | Jazz * | MAR | 28 | 2004 | 34 | 19 | 13 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 40.68 | 36 | 1.06 | |
1 | W | Pacific | @ | Warriors | APR | 7 | 1998 | 42 | 56 | 9 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 34.70 | 72 | 1.71 | |
2 | W | Pacific | @ | Clippers | NOV | 29 | 1997 | 41 | 42 | 18 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 34.35 | 64 | 1.56 | |
3 | W | Pacific | vs | Suns | MAR | 22 | 1988 | 46 | 28 | 21 | 6 | 6 | 3 | 24.66 | 64 | 1.39 | |
4 | W | Pacific | @ | Kings | FEB | 29 | 1988 | 41 | 41 | 15 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 24.60 | 61 | 1.49 | |
5 | W | Pacific | vs | Lakers | APR | 12 | 1990 | 44 | 45 | 11 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 26.72 | 59 | 1.34 | |
1 | W | South West | vs | Rockets | APR | 19 | 1995 | 45 | 45 | 17 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 31.74 | 69 | 1.53 | |
2 | W | South West | @ | Spurs | MAR | 19 | 1988 | 44 | 34 | 20 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 24.65 | 62 | 1.41 | |
3 | W | South West | @ | Mavericks | APR | 17 | 1990 | 40 | 39 | 17 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 26.73 | 61 | 1.53 | |
4 | W | South West | @ | Grizzlies | JAN | 20 | 2000 | 41 | 32 | 12 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 36.49 | 52 | 1.27 | |
5 | W | South West | vs | Pelicans | DEC | 12 | 2002 | 40 | 18 | 13 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 39.39 | 40 | 1.00 |
Karl had monster games as a young man in the West. Yikes.
Join us in wishing KARL MALONE @TheDeliverer_32 a HAPPY BIRTHDAY! pic.twitter.com/Q7dEQvhUtJ
— NBA (@NBA) July 24, 2015
Happy Birthday to the legend, @TheDeliverer_32!!! #MailmanBirthday pic.twitter.com/FHoCrDcFO6
— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) July 24, 2015
Karl Malone is the only player to have an emoji created after him. #MailmanBirthday pic.twitter.com/3ug9vUdCF4
— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) July 24, 2015
"The Mailman" pours in 50 points for the @UtahJazz in the 2000 Playoffs vs. the Sonics- tune to NBA TV right now! pic.twitter.com/MLBanaECih
— NBA TV (@NBATV) July 24, 2015
Karl Malone is the ONLY player in NBA history to be Top 10 all-time in points, rebounds and steals. #MailmanBirthday pic.twitter.com/DsYoLFfW0A
— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) July 24, 2015
In honor of Karl Malone's 52nd birthday, we take a look at some classic moves from "The Mailman." http://t.co/QI5ndJMC1g
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) July 24, 2015
Happy Birthday: @TheDeliverer_32 Full Highlights 1990.01.27 #Jazz vs #Bucks - 61 Pts, Career-High! https://t.co/0QsI9ZB6JW
— Dawkins (@DawkinsMTA) July 24, 2015
Re-live some of the moments of @TheDeliverer_32's phenomenal career! WATCH: http://t.co/2ct64hvHQa #MailmanBirthday pic.twitter.com/G5wgP60Ekr
— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) July 24, 2015
A few notes, this includes both playoff and regular season game -- Karl's 50 against the "Thunder" came in the playoffs. Also, for ease of indexing, the current names of teams were used here, the game against the "Thunder" was against the Seattle Supersonics. The game against the Pelicans was when they were called the Hornets. And the one against the Hornets is against the Bobcats franchise, a team he never played against, so it's actually the old Hornets, before they moved. And yes, Derrick Favors tax.