Jalen Brunson vs. Karl Malone Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Karl Malone and Jalen Brunson, 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.

Jalen Brunson played 7 years in the NBA, 12 less than Karl Malone, who played 19. Jalen Brunson had the first of his seasons in 2018-19, 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
	Jalen Brunson	Karl Malone
Season	2018-19	1985-86
Team	Dallas Mavericks	Utah Jazz
Honors & Awards	-	All-Rookie First Team
Playoffs	Did Not Play	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		%
Jalen Brunson	73	21.8	9.3	0.3	2.0	2.3	3.2	0.5	0.1	1.2	1.7	3.6	7.7	.467	0.9	2.5	.348	1.2	1.6	.725
difference:	+8	+8.8	+5.6	+1.8	+4.7	+6.6	+0.3	+0.8	+0.4	-2.2	-1.9	+2.6	+4.8	+.029	+0.9	+2.5		+1.2	+3.4	+.244
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		%
Jalen Brunson	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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 3
	Jalen Brunson	Karl Malone
Season	2020-21	1987-88
Team	Dallas Mavericks	Utah Jazz
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
	-	All-Defensive Second Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Mavericks Lost West Conf 1st Rd	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		%
Jalen Brunson	68	25.0	12.6	0.4	3.0	3.4	3.5	0.5	0.0	1.2	1.6	4.8	9.2	.523	1.2	2.9	.405	1.8	2.2	.795
difference:	+14	+14.0	+15.1	+3.0	+5.6	+8.6	+1.1	+0.9	+0.6	-2.8	-2.0	+5.7	+10.9	+.003	+1.2	+2.8	+.405	+4.9	+7.4	+.095
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		%
Jalen Brunson	7	16.3	8.0	0.9	1.7	2.6	1.4	0.0	0.0	0.6	0.9	2.9	6.3	.455	0.9	1.9	.462	1.4	1.9	.769
difference:	+4	+28.6	+21.7	+2.1	+7.1	+9.2	+0.1	+1.2	+0.6	-2.9	-2.3	+8.3	+16.9	+.027	+0.9	+1.8	+.462	+6.0	+8.3	+.046
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
	Jalen Brunson	Karl Malone
Season	2021-22	1988-89
Team	Dallas Mavericks	Utah Jazz
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Star Game
	-	All-Star Game MVP
Playoffs	Mavericks Lost West Conf Finals	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		%
Jalen Brunson	79	31.9	16.3	0.5	3.4	3.9	4.8	0.8	0.0	1.6	1.9	6.4	12.8	.502	1.2	3.2	.373	2.3	2.7	.840
difference:	+1	+7.2	+12.8	+2.7	+4.0	+6.8	+2.1	+1.0	+0.9	-2.0	-1.7	+3.7	+6.7	+.017	+1.1	+3.0	+.060	+6.5	+8.8	+.074
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		%
Jalen Brunson	18	34.9	21.6	0.8	3.8	4.6	3.7	0.8	0.1	1.1	2.1	8.1	17.3	.466	1.4	4.2	.347	4.0	5.0	.800
difference:	+15	+10.4	+9.1	+6.5	+5.2	+11.7	+2.4	+0.2	+0.2	-3.2	-3.2	+2.9	+4.7	+.034	+1.4	+4.2		+4.7	+5.7	+.013
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
	Jalen Brunson	Karl Malone
Season	2022-23	1989-90
Team	New York Knicks	Utah Jazz
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Knicks 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		%
Jalen Brunson	68	35.0	24.0	0.6	3.0	3.5	6.2	0.9	0.2	2.1	2.2	8.6	17.6	.491	2.0	4.7	.416	4.8	5.8	.829
difference:	+14	+3.1	+7.0	+2.2	+5.3	+7.6	+3.4	+0.6	+0.4	-1.6	-1.0	+2.5	+2.2	+.071	+1.8	+4.2	+.044	+3.7	+5.3	+.067
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		%
Jalen Brunson	11	40.3	27.8	0.8	4.1	4.9	5.6	1.5	0.1	2.1	2.4	9.9	20.9	.474	2.4	7.3	.325	5.6	6.2	.912
difference:	+6	+0.3	+2.6	+2.4	+2.9	+5.3	+3.4	+0.7	+0.9	-0.3	-2.0	+0.7	+0.1	+.036	+2.4	+7.1	+.325	+1.2	+2.8	+.156
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
	Jalen Brunson	Karl Malone
Season	2023-24	1990-91
Team	New York Knicks	Utah Jazz
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	All-NBA Second Team	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Knicks Lost East Conf Semis	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		%
Jalen Brunson	77	35.4	28.7	0.6	3.1	3.6	6.7	0.9	0.2	2.4	1.9	10.3	21.4	.479	2.7	6.8	.401	5.5	6.5	.847
difference:	+5	+4.9	+0.3	+2.3	+5.8	+8.2	+3.4	+0.2	+0.8	-0.6	-1.4		+1.8	+.048	+2.7	+6.6	+.115	+2.8	+4.3	+.077
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		%
Jalen Brunson	13	39.8	32.4	0.6	2.7	3.3	7.5	0.8	0.2	2.7	2.0	11.6	26.2	.444	2.0	6.5	.310	7.2	9.2	.775
difference:	+4	+2.8	+2.7	+2.0	+8.1	+10.0	+4.3	+0.2	+1.0	-0.2	-1.9	+1.0	+3.0	+.011	+2.0	+5.6	+.310	+1.4	+0.9	+.071
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
	Jalen Brunson	Karl Malone
Season	2024-25	1991-92
Team	New York Knicks	Utah Jazz
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	All-NBA Second Team	-
	Clutch Player of the Year	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Knicks Lost East 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		%
Jalen Brunson	65	35.4	26.0	0.4	2.5	2.9	7.3	0.9	0.1	2.5	2.1	9.0	18.5	.488	2.3	6.1	.383	5.7	6.9	.821
difference:	+16	+2.3	+2.0	+2.4	+5.9	+8.3	+4.3	+0.4	+0.5	-0.6	-0.7	+0.9	+0.2	+.038	+2.3	+5.9	+.207	+2.6	+3.8	+.043
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		%
Jalen Brunson	18	37.8	29.4	0.7	2.8	3.4	7.0	0.4	0.3	3.1	3.3	10.1	21.8	.461	2.7	7.4	.358	6.7	7.8	.851
difference:	+2	+5.2	+0.3	+2.0	+5.8	+7.9	+4.4	+1.0	+0.9	-0.2	-0.3	+0.8	+4.0	+.060	+2.7	+7.3	+.358	+3.9	+5.3	+.046
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

Additional Years
* Karl Malone played 12 seasons more than Jalen Brunson in the NBA. In that period—his seasons 8 to 19, from 1993 to 2004—Karl Malone played in 12 Playoffs. In those 12 extra years over Jalen Brunson, Karl Malone got these achievements:
Honors & Awards	2 Season MVP 7 All-NBA First Team 1 All-NBA Second Team 1 All-NBA Third Team 3 All-Defensive First Team 9 All-Star Game 1 All-Star Game MVP