scooter

Karl Malone. His huge numbers were inflated by his durability, his perfect fit with Stockton and with Jerry Sloan, and by the fact his career coincided with a period during which the league allowed more physical play than it does now. In the playoffs, he came up against better big men like Olajuwon, Duncan, Garnett and Shaq and was exposed. Malone was a great player, but definitely a notch below those guys. It wasn't bad luck that Malone didn't win a championship. It was because he was a tremendously productive, durable and consistent regular season player but definitely not as talented as those other guys. People who count him as the greatest PF ever because of his numbers are overrating him.