Artis Gilmore vs. Karl Malone Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Karl Malone and Artis Gilmore, from their rookie seasons to their last year played, in chronological order with awards, stats, championships and playoff performance of their teams every year.

Who had the better rookie season? Who had best stats in their 10th season? Who won a championship first? These questions and many others, are answered here.

Artis Gilmore played 12 years in the NBA, 7 less than Karl Malone, who played 19. Artis Gilmore had the first of his seasons in 1976-77, while Karl Malone had his rookie season in 1985-86. With that starting point, here you can take a look at each of their seasons side by side and compare how their careers evolved in achievements, awards and championships won, the stats they recorded both in the Regular Season and the Playoffs and how their teams performed in the postseason.

Rookie Season
	Artis Gilmore	Karl Malone
Season	1976-77	1985-86
Team	Chicago Bulls	Utah Jazz
Honors & Awards	-	All-Rookie First Team
Playoffs	Bulls Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Jazz Lost West Conf 1st Rd

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Rookie Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Artis Gilmore	82	35.1	18.6	3.8	9.2	13.0	2.4	0.5	2.5	-	3.2	7.0	13.3	.522	-	-	-	4.7	7.1	.660
difference:	+1	+4.5	+3.7	+1.7	+2.5	+4.1	+0.5	+0.8	+2.0		-0.4	+0.8	+0.8	+.026				+2.3	+2.1	+.179
Karl Malone	81	30.6	14.9	2.1	6.7	8.9	2.9	1.3	0.5	3.4	3.6	6.2	12.5	.496	0.0	0.0	-	2.4	5.0	.481
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Artis Gilmore	3	42.0	18.7	5.0	8.0	13.0	2.0	1.0	2.7	-	3.0	6.3	13.3	.475	-	-	-	6.0	7.7	.783
difference:	+1	+6.0	+3.1	+3.5	+2.0	+5.5	+1.0	+1.0	+2.7		-1.5	+3.2	+4.7	+.053				+3.2	+1.2	+.360
Karl Malone	4	36.0	21.8	1.5	6.0	7.5	1.0	2.0	0.0	1.5	4.5	9.5	18.0	.528	0.0	0.0	-	2.8	6.5	.423

Season 2
	Artis Gilmore	Karl Malone
Season	1977-78	1986-87
Team	Chicago Bulls	Utah Jazz
Honors & Awards	All-Defensive Second Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Jazz Lost West Conf 1st Rd

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2nd Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Artis Gilmore	82	37.4	22.9	3.9	9.2	13.1	3.2	0.5	2.2	4.5	3.2	8.6	15.4	.559	-	-	-	5.7	8.2	.704
difference:		+2.6	+1.2	+0.5	+2.2	+2.7	+1.3	+0.8	+1.5	-1.6	-0.7	+0.3	+1.9	+.047				+1.8	+1.6	+.106
Karl Malone	82	34.8	21.7	3.4	7.0	10.4	1.9	1.3	0.7	2.9	3.9	8.9	17.3	.512	0.0	0.1	.000	3.9	6.6	.598
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Artis Gilmore	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Karl Malone	5	40.0	20.0	3.0	6.6	9.6	1.2	2.2	0.8	3.4	4.0	7.4	17.6	.420	0.0	0.0	-	5.2	7.2	.722

Season 3
	Artis Gilmore	Karl Malone
Season	1978-79	1987-88
Team	Chicago Bulls	Utah Jazz
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
	-	All-Defensive Second Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Jazz Lost West Conf Semis

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3rd Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Artis Gilmore	82	39.8	23.7	3.6	9.1	12.7	3.3	0.6	1.9	3.8	3.4	9.2	16.0	.575	-	-	-	5.3	7.2	.739
difference:		+0.8	+4.0	+0.2	+0.5	+0.7	+0.9	+0.8	+1.3	-0.2	-0.2	+1.3	+4.1	+.055				+1.4	+2.4	+.039
Karl Malone	82	39.0	27.7	3.4	8.6	12.0	2.4	1.4	0.6	4.0	3.6	10.5	20.1	.520	0.0	0.1	.000	6.7	9.6	.700
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Artis Gilmore	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Karl Malone	11	44.9	29.7	3.0	8.8	11.8	1.5	1.2	0.6	3.5	3.2	11.2	23.2	.482	0.0	0.1	.000	7.4	10.2	.723

Season 4
	Artis Gilmore	Karl Malone
Season	1979-80	1988-89
Team	Chicago Bulls	Utah Jazz
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Star Game
	-	All-Star Game MVP
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Jazz Lost West Conf 1st Rd

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4th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Artis Gilmore	48	32.7	17.8	2.3	6.8	9.0	2.8	0.6	1.2	2.8	3.5	6.4	10.7	.595	0.0	0.0	-	5.1	7.2	.712
difference:	+32	+6.4	+11.3	+0.9	+0.6	+1.7	+0.1	+1.2	+0.3	-0.8	-0.1	+3.7	+8.8	+.076	+0.1	+0.2		+3.7	+4.3	+.054
Karl Malone	80	39.1	29.1	3.2	7.4	10.7	2.7	1.8	0.9	3.6	3.6	10.1	19.5	.519	0.1	0.2	.313	8.8	11.5	.766
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Artis Gilmore	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Karl Malone	3	45.3	30.7	7.3	9.0	16.3	1.3	1.0	0.3	4.3	5.3	11.0	22.0	.500	0.0	0.0	-	8.7	10.7	.813

Season 5
	Artis Gilmore	Karl Malone
Season	1980-81	1989-90
Team	Chicago Bulls	Utah Jazz
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Bulls Lost East Conf Semis	Jazz Lost West Conf 1st Rd

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5th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Artis Gilmore	82	34.5	17.9	2.7	7.4	10.1	2.1	0.6	2.4	2.9	3.6	6.7	10.0	.670	0.0	0.0	-	4.6	6.5	.705
difference:		+3.6	+13.1	+0.1	+0.9	+1.0	+0.7	+0.9	+1.8	-0.8	-0.4	+4.4	+9.8	+.108	+0.2	+0.5		+3.9	+4.6	+.057
Karl Malone	82	38.1	31.0	2.8	8.3	11.1	2.8	1.5	0.6	3.7	3.2	11.1	19.8	.562	0.2	0.5	.372	8.5	11.1	.762
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Artis Gilmore	6	41.2	18.0	4.0	7.2	11.2	2.0	1.0	2.8	2.8	2.5	5.8	10.0	.583	0.0	0.0	-	6.3	9.2	.691
difference:	+1	+0.6	+7.2	+0.8	+0.2	+1.0	+0.2	+1.2	+1.8	-0.4	-1.9	+3.4	+11.0	+.145		+0.2		+0.5	+0.2	+.065
Karl Malone	5	40.6	25.2	3.2	7.0	10.2	2.2	2.2	1.0	2.4	4.4	9.2	21.0	.438	0.0	0.2	.000	6.8	9.0	.756

Season 6
	Artis Gilmore	Karl Malone
Season	1981-82	1990-91
Team	Chicago Bulls	Utah Jazz
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Jazz Lost West Conf Semis

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6th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Artis Gilmore	82	34.1	18.5	2.7	7.5	10.2	1.7	0.6	2.7	2.8	3.5	6.7	10.2	.652	0.0	0.0	-	5.2	6.7	.768
difference:		+6.2	+10.5	+0.2	+1.4	+1.6	+1.6	+0.5	+1.7	-0.2	-0.2	+3.6	+9.4	+.125		+0.2		+3.1	+4.1	+.002
Karl Malone	82	40.3	29.0	2.9	8.9	11.8	3.3	1.1	1.0	3.0	3.3	10.3	19.6	.527	0.0	0.2	.286	8.3	10.8	.770
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Artis Gilmore	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Karl Malone	9	42.6	29.7	2.6	10.8	13.3	3.2	1.0	1.2	2.9	3.9	10.6	23.2	.455	0.0	0.9	.000	8.6	10.1	.846

Season 7
	Artis Gilmore	Karl Malone
Season	1982-83	1991-92
Team	San Antonio Spurs	Utah Jazz
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Spurs Lost West Conf Finals	Jazz Lost West Conf Finals

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7th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Artis Gilmore	82	34.1	18.0	3.6	8.4	12.0	1.5	0.5	2.3	3.1	3.3	6.8	10.8	.626	0.0	0.1	.000	4.5	6.0	.740
difference:	+1	+3.6	+10.0	+0.8		+0.8	+1.5	+0.8	+1.7		-0.5	+3.1	+7.9	+.100		+0.1	+.176	+3.8	+4.7	+.038
Karl Malone	81	37.7	28.0	2.8	8.4	11.2	3.0	1.3	0.6	3.1	2.8	9.9	18.7	.526	0.0	0.2	.176	8.3	10.7	.778
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Artis Gilmore	11	36.5	16.7	3.4	9.5	12.9	1.6	0.8	3.1	2.5	4.2	6.9	12.0	.576	0.0	0.0	-	2.9	4.2	.696
difference:	+5	+6.5	+12.4	+0.7	+0.9	+1.6	+1.0	+0.6	+1.9	-0.4	-0.6	+2.4	+5.8	+.055		+0.1		+7.7	+8.9	+.109
Karl Malone	16	43.0	29.1	2.7	8.6	11.3	2.6	1.4	1.2	2.9	3.6	9.3	17.8	.521	0.0	0.1	.000	10.6	13.1	.805

Season 8
	Artis Gilmore	Karl Malone
Season	1983-84	1992-93
Team	San Antonio Spurs	Utah Jazz
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Star Game
	-	All-Star Game MVP
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Jazz Lost West Conf 1st Rd

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8th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Artis Gilmore	64	31.8	15.3	3.3	7.0	10.3	1.1	0.6	2.1	2.3	3.6	5.5	8.7	.631	0.0	0.0	-	4.4	6.1	.718
difference:	+18	+6.0	+11.7	+0.5	+1.4	+0.9	+2.7	+0.9	+1.1	-0.6	-0.4	+4.2	+8.9	+.079		+0.2		+3.1	+4.1	+.022
Karl Malone	82	37.8	27.0	2.8	8.4	11.2	3.8	1.5	1.0	2.9	3.2	9.7	17.6	.552	0.0	0.2	.200	7.5	10.2	.740
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Artis Gilmore	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Karl Malone	5	43.2	24.0	2.4	8.0	10.4	2.0	1.2	0.4	4.0	4.2	8.8	19.4	.454	0.2	0.4	.500	6.2	7.6	.816

Season 9
	Artis Gilmore	Karl Malone
Season	1984-85	1993-94
Team	San Antonio Spurs	Utah Jazz
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Spurs Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Jazz Lost West Conf Finals

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9th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Artis Gilmore	81	34.0	19.1	2.9	7.6	10.4	1.6	0.5	2.1	3.0	3.8	6.6	10.5	.623	0.0	0.0	-	6.0	8.0	.749
difference:	+1	+6.6	+6.1		+1.0	+1.1	+2.4	+1.0	+0.6	-0.1	-0.5	+2.8	+8.4	+.126	+0.1	+0.4		+0.2	+1.0	+.055
Karl Malone	82	40.6	25.2	2.9	8.6	11.5	4.0	1.5	1.5	2.9	3.3	9.4	18.9	.497	0.1	0.4	.250	6.2	9.0	.694
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Artis Gilmore	5	37.0	17.8	2.0	8.0	10.0	1.4	0.4	1.4	4.6	3.6	5.8	10.4	.558	0.0	0.0	-	6.2	9.0	.689
difference:	+11	+6.9	+9.3	+1.3	+1.1	+2.4	+2.0	+1.0	+0.6	-2.5	-0.1	+4.1	+10.7	+.091		+0.3		+1.2	+1.0	+.049
Karl Malone	16	43.9	27.1	3.3	9.1	12.4	3.4	1.4	0.8	2.1	3.7	9.9	21.1	.467	0.0	0.3	.000	7.4	10.0	.738

Season 10
	Artis Gilmore	Karl Malone
Season	1985-86	1994-95
Team	San Antonio Spurs	Utah Jazz
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Spurs Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Jazz Lost West Conf 1st Rd

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10th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Artis Gilmore	71	33.7	16.7	2.3	6.1	8.5	1.4	0.5	1.5	2.6	3.4	6.0	9.6	.618	0.0	0.0	-	4.8	6.8	.701
difference:	+11	+4.4	+10.0	+0.4	+2.6	+2.1	+2.1	+1.1	+0.5	-0.3	-0.1	+4.1	+9.3	+.082	+0.1	+0.5		+1.5	+1.7	+.041
Karl Malone	82	38.1	26.7	1.9	8.7	10.6	3.5	1.6	1.0	2.9	3.3	10.1	18.9	.536	0.1	0.5	.268	6.3	8.5	.742
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Artis Gilmore	3	35.7	13.3	2.3	3.7	6.0	1.0	2.3	0.3	3.3	3.7	5.3	8.0	.667	0.0	0.0	-	2.7	4.7	.571
difference:	+2	+7.5	+16.9	+0.7	+6.5	+7.2	+2.8	+0.9	+0.1	-0.5	-0.1	+4.3	+12.6	+.201	+0.2	+0.6		+8.1	+10.9	+.121
Karl Malone	5	43.2	30.2	3.0	10.2	13.2	3.8	1.4	0.4	2.8	3.6	9.6	20.6	.466	0.2	0.6	.333	10.8	15.6	.692

Season 11
	Artis Gilmore	Karl Malone
Season	1986-87	1995-96
Team	San Antonio Spurs	Utah Jazz
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Jazz Lost West Conf Finals

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11th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Artis Gilmore	82	29.3	11.4	2.3	4.8	7.1	1.8	0.5	1.2	2.2	2.9	4.2	7.1	.597	0.0	0.0	-	3.0	4.3	.680
difference:		+8.7	+14.3	+0.2	+2.9	+2.7	+2.4	+1.2	+0.5	-0.2	-0.1	+5.4	+11.4	+.078	+0.2	+0.5		+3.2	+4.3	+.043
Karl Malone	82	38.0	25.7	2.1	7.7	9.8	4.2	1.7	0.7	2.4	3.0	9.6	18.5	.519	0.2	0.5	.400	6.2	8.6	.723
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Artis Gilmore	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Karl Malone	18	40.3	26.5	2.6	7.7	10.3	4.4	1.9	0.6	2.5	3.4	10.4	22.3	.469	0.0	0.2	.000	5.6	9.8	.574

Season 12
	Artis Gilmore	Karl Malone
Season	1987-88	1996-97
Team	Chicago Bulls, Boston Celtics	Utah Jazz
Honors & Awards	-	Season MVP
	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Defensive First Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Celtics Lost East Conf Finals	Jazz Lost NBA Finals

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12th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Artis Gilmore	71	12.6	3.7	1.0	2.0	3.0	0.3	0.2	0.4	0.9	2.1	1.4	2.5	.547	0.0	0.0	-	0.9	1.8	.523
difference:	+11	+24.0	+23.7	+1.4	+5.5	+6.9	+4.2	+1.2	+0.2	-1.9	-0.5	+9.1	+16.7	+.003		+0.2		+5.5	+6.6	+.232
Karl Malone	82	36.6	27.4	2.4	7.5	9.9	4.5	1.4	0.6	2.8	2.6	10.5	19.2	.550	0.0	0.2	.000	6.4	8.4	.755
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Artis Gilmore	14	6.1	1.1	0.3	1.1	1.4	0.1	0.0	0.3	0.3	1.0	0.3	0.6	.500	0.0	0.0	-	0.5	1.0	.500
difference:	+6	+34.7	+24.9	+2.7	+7.3	+10.0	+2.8	+1.4	+0.5	-2.4	-2.0	+9.1	+20.9	+.065	+0.1	+0.1		+6.7	+9.0	+.220
Karl Malone	20	40.8	26.0	3.0	8.4	11.4	2.9	1.4	0.8	2.7	3.0	9.4	21.5	.435	0.1	0.1	.500	7.2	10.0	.720

Additional Years
* Karl Malone played 7 seasons more than Artis Gilmore in the NBA. In that period—his seasons 13 to 19, from 1998 to 2004—Karl Malone played in 7 Playoffs. In those 7 extra years over Artis Gilmore, Karl Malone got these achievements:
Honors & Awards	1 Season MVP 2 All-NBA First Team 1 All-NBA Second Team 1 All-NBA Third Team 2 All-Defensive First Team 4 All-Star Game