Is Karl Malone underrated?

Shadow King

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Wilt and Dream don't have any early exits bruh? Moses didn't play with some shytty teams in Houston? Wilt had a few Hall of Fame teammates too and regardless his numbers went down a lot during the postseason but i guess that was cause the Celts had 7-8 HOF players though?
Wilt had 1 early exit out of his 4 MVP seasons. Hakeem didn't. Yes, playing a team much better than you will do that. This is why I said the argument is about skillset not accolades.
 

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Don't know if you watched the game or were old enough to remember but either way that Jordan in 95 wasn't the real Jordan and we all know it. And it ain't like Dream beat him anyway.


I've watched 1995 playoff games, he was still a great player in that state.

Bulls problem was their frontcourt got dismantled against Orlando. Getting beat on the boards. Jordan even at 100% may get them through that series but they were not beating that Rockets team which went on a crazy run as a 6th seed.
 

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I've watched 1995 playoff games, he was still a great player in that state.

Bulls problem was their frontcourt got dismantled against Orlando. Getting beat on the boards. Jordan even at 100% may get them through that series but they were not beating that Rockets team which went on a crazy run as a 6th seed.
Of course we can never really know this. Only speculation.
 

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Wilt had 1 early exit out of his 4 MVP seasons. Hakeem didn't. Yes, playing a team much better than you will do that. This is why I said the argument is about skillset not accolades.
So maybe Moses lost to the better team too then right?
 

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So maybe Moses lost to the better team too then right?
He lost the First Round to the Hawks in 79 and Sonics in 82. He's MVP and a Wilt/Hakeem-level player, right? This doesn't happen, and 79 was especially bad because he had a squad. That team was also the league's 2nd worst in defense, which was a consistent theme on Moses' Rockets. As an all-time center that's inexcusable.

Both Wilt and Hakeem were on a different planet from Moses defensively. Wilt wasn't perfect but consistently anchored elite defenses, only Russell did better. Hakeem may have been as perfect as a big on defense gets. This alone keeps Moses out of this argument.
 

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He lost the First Round to the Hawks in 79 and Sonics in 82. He's MVP and a Wilt/Hakeem-level player, right? This doesn't happen, and 79 was especially bad because he had a squad. That team was also the league's 2nd worst in defense, which was a consistent theme on Moses' Rockets. As an all-time center that's inexcusable.

Both Wilt and Hakeem were on a different planet from Moses defensively. Wilt wasn't perfect but consistently anchored elite defenses, only Russell did better. Hakeem may have been as perfect as a big on defense gets. This alone keeps Moses out of this argument.
Hawks had one less victory than the 47 win Hawks so miss me with that. Murphy and Barry were over 30 so that "he had a squad" would have been a better statement 2 or 3 years earlier. Again not saying he's better but for ANYONE who does think so i wouldn't argue or go back and forth with them unlike what you and i are doing.
 

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Hawks had one less victory than the 47 win Hawks so miss me with that. Murphy and Barry were over 30 so that "he had a squad" would have been a better statement 2 or 3 years earlier. Again not saying he's better but for ANYONE who does think so i wouldn't argue or go back and forth with them unlike what you and i are doing.
It doesn't matter how old they were. Murphy was still dropping 20 a game. Barry dipped in scoring but was averaging 6.5 APG as a wing while still averaging 13. Rudy T 19 & 7 on 51%. 2 more players scoring in double digits. Without Moses that's equal to what the Hawks had, there's no reason the MVP can't win them 2 games out of 3. 2 years earlier Moses wasn't better than Rudy or Calvin let alone an All-NBA/MVP level player. 13 & 13 lets me know his value was rebounding and limited offense.

If you're not exactly saying he's better and can't address him being mediocre in the worst aspect for a center to be mediocre in, defense, there's no argument. So no, we shouldn't be going back and forth. He's not on Wilt or Hakeem's level.
 

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It doesn't matter how old they were. Murphy was still dropping 20 a game. Barry dipped in scoring but was averaging 6.5 APG as a wing while still averaging 13. Rudy T 19 & 7 on 51%. 2 more players scoring in double digits. Without Moses that's equal to what the Hawks had, there's no reason the MVP can't win them 2 games out of 3. 2 years earlier Moses wasn't better than Rudy or Calvin let alone an All-NBA/MVP level player. 13 & 13 lets me know his value was rebounding and limited offense.

If you're not exactly saying he's better and can't address him being mediocre in the worst aspect for a center to be mediocre in, defense, there's no argument. So no, we shouldn't be going back and forth. He's not on Wilt or Hakeem's level.
Murphy dropping 20 a night and Barry getting 6.5 assists still led them to what 47 wins? So don't act like that team was some juggernaut. Considering he's a top 30 and probably closer to 20 i would say that he is definitely on their level.
 

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Murphy dropping 20 a night and Barry getting 6.5 assists still led them to what 47 wins? So don't act like that team was some juggernaut. Considering he's a top 30 and probably closer to 20 i would say that he is definitely on their level.
I never said they were a juggernaut. I said he had a squad and as MVP there's no reason he can't take them over the Hawks. And part of only 47 wins is once again the Rockets being a bottom 2 defense, a testament to your MVP center's defensive ability.

If a player is 15 or so spots from another he's not on their level. Especially if they play the same position and thus are expected to deliver similar impact in certain areas of the game. His impact doesn't match his numbers because he was had no impact in the most important facet of the game as a center, especially 40 years ago; he anchored garbage defenses.
 

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He’s rated correctly. A redneck pedo who was a great PF but constantly choked during his prime. And when him and Stockton stopped missing key FT in the playoffs and finally reached the finals they lost to the better team
 

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I never said they were a juggernaut. I said he had a squad and as MVP there's no reason he can't take them over the Hawks. And part of only 47 wins is once again the Rockets being a bottom 2 defense, a testament to your MVP center's defensive ability.

If a player is 15 or so spots from another he's not on their level. Especially if they play the same position and thus are expected to deliver similar impact in certain areas of the game. His impact doesn't match his numbers because he was had no impact in the most important facet of the game as a center, especially 40 years ago; he anchored garbage defenses.
Again he had a squad with one more victory than the Hawks but you are of the belief that it was some type of upset. And was Moses teams lack of defense solely because of him or the talent around him. I'm guessing when he got to Phily they probably had a decent defense. Again and i will continue to state that Moses is on every center above him level or he wouldn't rate as highly as he does.
 

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Again he had a squad with one more victory than the Hawks but you are of the belief that it was some type of upset. And was Moses teams lack of defense solely because of him or the talent around him. I'm guessing when he got to Phily they probably had a decent defense. Again and i will continue to state that Moses is on every center above him level or he wouldn't rate as highly as he does.
He's an MVP an All-Time center with 5 other players scoring in double digits, it's an upset.

No other center that you're comparing him or think he's equal to can get away with consistent bottom of the league defenses. Every center above him is an elite two-way force outside of Russell whose impact and accolades are more than enough (though I don't place him Top 10). It would be one thing if they were average. Every center has also dealt with that, but it at least they had ability that could only carry so far in a team game. But to be bottom of the league every year speaks to his capability and/or effort at his position.

And I'll say until the end of time that a center that doesn't make his teammates on offense nor (especially) defense isn't on the level of those who did.

We're going to have to agree to disagree.
 

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I think Malone is ranked just about right. Like most players it could be argued he should be a few spots higher or a few spots lower. Here is what I don't think though, that Malone has any case for top 5 of all time. I swear if it was left up to some folks that would just look at the top 5 players with the most nba points scored and that would be their top 5 list. It would be a bad list imo but that is how a lot of folks think.

First of all total career points is obviously heavily influenced by longevity. I personally don't give as much weight to longevity as most folks. Why does playing 22 years make you better than someone who played say 14 years? It doesn't. I like at averages way before I would look at totals. Let's use Kobe and Jordan as examples. Anyone who watched know MJ was a far, far superior scorer than Kobe. Yet Kobe actually scored more career points. Why? Kobe played longer. But their averages tell the true story. MJ average 30 ppg on 50% while Kobe averaged 25 ppg on 45%, that's just a monumental difference.

Look at Magic Johnson, his career totals aren't going to be super high because he only played 13 years but Magic has a case as the GOAT. The man made the finals 9 times in his first 12 season. I don't really count his last season when he came back after being gone 5 years. Anyone that watch Magic play knew he was a special, special players regardless of what his career totals were.

So that brings me to Karl Malone. It's not that Malone wasn't a great player. I'm not saying that, 25 ppg on 52% shooting and 10 boards per game is great for anybody. But if he had those exact numbers, with no championships and two finals losses where he came up small and played 5 or 6 years less would anybody think he is top 10 let alone top 5. Probably not. The folks looking to bump Malone alone are doing it almost entirely on longevity imo.

If you were going to put Malone in the top 10 but on the ESPN list who would you take out? Considering all those guys won multiple championships and 8 of the ESPN list won multiple MVPs why would you place Malone over them. Also Malone was never considered the best player in the game. And it wasn't just because of Jordan. Even if you take Jordan away Malone still only has two seasons where is considered the best in the game despite playing 19 years. Compare that to Jordan who played many years less but was considered the best every year of the 1990s. Magic and Bird played even fewer years than Jordan but was considered the best in the league at least three years apiece and top 2 or three pretty much every year of their career. You can't say that for Malone. Malone was a great player who accumulated even greater stats because of longevity. In many years he is like Kobe without the rings of course.

Hakeem Olajuwon may not have been as productive in the regular season as Malone over the course of his entire career but I think most folks, probably 80% think Olajuwon was better. If Hakeem didn't make the top 10 then most would argue Malone shouldn't of been top 10 either. I mean we all saw Hakeem dominate like 8 or 9 playoff series in a row. Something Malone never came close to doing.

Playoff performance matters and Hakeem dominate playoff performance are always the first thoughts that come to mind when thinking of Hakeen. Fair or unfair playoff failures are what many folks think of when thinking of Malone such as getting bounced in the second round in 1999 the year are the Bulls broke up. After just missing the chip the previous two years that was suppose to be the Jazz title and they didn't even come close.
I don't think you took into account that Kobe came off the bench in his first two years, and that he came in at 18...and his era was different.
 

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He's an MVP an All-Time center with 5 other players scoring in double digits, it's an upset.

No other center that you're comparing him or think he's equal to can get away with consistent bottom of the league defenses. Every center above him is an elite two-way force outside of Russell whose impact and accolades are more than enough (though I don't place him Top 10). It would be one thing if they were average. Every center has also dealt with that, but it at least they had ability that could only carry so far in a team game. But to be bottom of the league every year speaks to his capability and/or effort at his position.

And I'll say until the end of time that a center that doesn't make his teammates on offense nor (especially) defense isn't on the level of those who did.

We're going to have to agree to disagree.
No matter how many players scored what a game a team with one less victory beating you in a 3 game series aint an upset bruh. 3 MVP's and a ring says that he is on their level despite what you may or may not believe. And we will continue to agree to disagree my brother.
 

Shadow King

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No matter how many players scored what a game a team with one less victory beating you in a 3 game series aint an upset bruh. 3 MVP's and a ring says that he is on their level despite what you may or may not believe. And we will continue to agree to disagree my brother.
He's not but alright
 
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