Devin: Dirk vs. Malone

Stockton to Malone. Nash and Kidd to Nowitzki. The point (pun intended) is both Karl Malone and Dirk Nowitzki have played with elite passing point guards, which evened the playing field between the two. Both have the stats, the wins, and the MVP’s. But who is better? To me, this is kinda like choosing between a Ferrari and a Lamborghini; you can’t go wrong either way. My preference though is Karl Malone. My argument you might ask, is that the numbers don’t lie. After being drafted 13^th overall in the 1985 NBA draft, it didn’t take long for him to hit his stride. He averaged 15 ppg and 9 rpg in his rookie season, earning him a spot on the NBA All rookie team. But he didn’t stop there; Malone dominated the PF position for years, averaging 25 ppg and 10.1 rpg in his 19 year career. During that time Karl Malone scored 36,928 points (2^nd) and pulled down 14,968 rebounds (6^th). To put that in perspective, in order for Dirk Nowitzki to reach those numbers in the same amount of games Malone did, he would have to score 14,136 points and grab 6,653 rebounds. That’s an average of 29.2 ppg and 13.7 rpg. I think it’s safe to say Nowitzki won’t reach those numbers considering his career average is 23 ppg and 8.4 rpg. Career Numbers- Malone>Nowitzki. One great aspect of Karl Malone’s game is that he was a master at getting to the free throw line. He holds the record for the most free throws attempted and made, averaging 8.9 attempts and 6.6 makes per game during his career. Speaking of records, Malone also holds records for all-time defensive rebounds and consecutive seasons scoring at least 2,000 points, with 11. Records- Malone>Nowitzki. While I feel like Nowitzki is an underrated defender, he is still not even in the same zip code as Malone in terms of defense; and Malone wasn’t even considered an elite defender. Malone averaged 1.4 steals and 7.7 defensive rebounds per game, making 3 NBA All-Defense first teams, and one NBA All-Defense second team. Nowitzki has averaged .9 steals and 7.2 defensive rebounds per game, but has not been voted to any NBA All-Defensive teams. Defense- Malone>Nowitzki. But Malone being better on the defensive end was a given, right? So how about the offensive end. This may come as a surprise to some, but Malone has better stats than Nowitzki in categories such as ppg, rpb, ast, and even FG%. In fact Nowitzki’s best season FG% wise is 51.7%, only .01% higher than Malone’s career average of 51.6%. If you compare offensive stats of the two All-Stars best seasons, Malone clearly has the edge. In the 2005-06 season Nowitzki averaged 26.6 points, 2.8 assists, 9 total rebounds (1.4 offensive) per game, while shooting 48% from the floor. In the 1989-90 season Malone averaged 31 points, 2.8 assists, and 11.1 total rebounds (2.8 offensive) per game, all while shooting 56.2% from the floor. Nowitzki has played against some great defenders like Duncan, Garnett, and Howard. However, Karl Malone played against arguably some of the best interior defenders to ever play the game; Olajuwon, Robinson, Mutombo, Ewing, Mourning, Jabbar, and Rodman. Offense- Malone>Nowitzki. During Malone’s career he was selected to 11 All NBA-First Teams and 14 All-Star games, receiving the MVP award in two of those. Nowitzki has been selected to 4 All NBA-First Teams and 10 All-Star games so far for Nowitzki, but no All-Star MVP awards. And lastly, the regular season MVP awards. Malone collected 2, while Nowitzki owns 1. Personal accolades- Malone>Nowitzki. So now we can argue the postseason. Let’s get this out of the way; I’ve heard the argument that Malone was a choke. But does anyone remember the 2006-07 season when Nowitzki was named the MVP and the Mavs were the #1 seed? That’s right; they lost in the 1^st round to the 8^th seeded GS Warriors 4-2. How about the 2010 playoffs, they were again the #1 seed and lost 4-2 to the 8^th seeded Spurs. Or how about giving up a 2-0 advantage in the 2006 Finals against the Heat, to again lose 4-2? I’ve also heard that Malone played with a better supporting cast. Take a look at these stats from each team’s playoff runs though; John Stockton averaged 13.6 pts in the ‘97 and ‘98 playoffs. The point guards in the ‘06 and ’10 playoffs for the Mavs averaged 14.1 pts. The top 3 players behind Malone averaged a combined 37.8 ppg, while the top 3 behind Nowitzki averaged 43.8 ppg. In the Jazz two title runs, Malone scored 27.5% of the Jazz points. Nowitzki in the Mavs two title runs-26.3%. The numbers are close, but they do suggest a better supporting cast for Nowitzki. But I digress. While Karl Malone made it to 3 finals, he of course was never able to win a ring. But he also never once in his 19 year career missed the playoffs; the same can’t be said for Nowitzki. So Dirk just won the title that Malone never did…congrats to Dirk and the Mavs! Three things though; in my opinion Tyson Chandler was the unsung hero in the playoffs. Mavs don’t win it without him. Also, there was one big difference in the Mavs title quest vs. the Jazz title quest….DA BULLS!! To be blunt, no Nowitzki led team would have had success against those Bulls teams of the 90’s either; and let’s be honest, LeBron and Wade are no Jordan and Pippen right now. Lastly, we’re talking about individual players, not team accomplishments. Not even MJ could have won the titles he did without Scottie Pippen, Dennis Rodman, and Horace Grant. In fact, that team (minus Rodman) went 55-27 without Jordan when he decided to take his talents to the baseball diamond; a testament of how good they really were. As we all know the Utah Jazz lost in the ‘97 and ‘98 Finals where they had the pleasure of going against the GOAT Michael Jordan and his Bulls, who NEVER lost once they reached the finals. Shame on Malone for not beating arguably the greatest team to ever play in the NBA. So Malone never won a championship, but does one ring really make Nowitzki better? Look, neither John Stockton nor ‘Pistol’ Pete Maravich ever won a championship, but are we going to debate whether Derek Fisher is better than both of them because of his 5 championships? I didn’t think so. Be patient Nowitzki fans, in time he could become better than Malone; but right now should Malone vs. Nowitzki even be a debate? No, it’s actually really simple…..Malone>Nowitzki.