Joel Embiid vs. Karl Malone Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Karl Malone and Joel Embiid, 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.

Joel Embiid played 10 years in the NBA, 9 less than Karl Malone, who played 19. Joel Embiid had the first of his seasons in 2016-17, 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
	Joel Embiid	Karl Malone
Season	2016-17	1985-86
Team	Philadelphia 76ers	Utah Jazz
Honors & Awards	All-Rookie First Team	All-Rookie First Team
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Jazz Lost West Conf 1st Rd

more >>

Rookie Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Joel Embiid	31	25.4	20.2	2.0	5.9	7.8	2.1	0.9	2.5	3.8	3.6	6.5	13.8	.466	1.2	3.2	.367	6.2	7.9	.783
difference:	+50	+5.2	+5.3	+0.1	+0.8	+1.1	+0.8	+0.4	+2.0	-0.4		+0.3	+1.3	+.030	+1.2	+3.2		+3.8	+2.9	+.302
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		%
Joel Embiid	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 2
	Joel Embiid	Karl Malone
Season	2017-18	1986-87
Team	Philadelphia 76ers	Utah Jazz
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
	All-Defensive Second Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	76ers Lost East Conf Semis	Jazz Lost West Conf 1st Rd

more >>

2nd Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Joel Embiid	63	30.3	22.9	2.3	8.7	11.0	3.2	0.6	1.8	3.7	3.3	8.1	16.8	.483	1.0	3.4	.308	5.7	7.4	.769
difference:	+19	+4.5	+1.2	+1.1	+1.7	+0.6	+1.3	+0.7	+1.1	-0.8	-0.6	+0.8	+0.5	+.029	+1.0	+3.3	+.308	+1.8	+0.8	+.171
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		%
Joel Embiid	8	34.8	21.4	2.9	9.8	12.6	3.0	0.9	1.8	3.6	3.9	7.5	17.3	.435	1.0	3.6	.276	5.4	7.6	.705
difference:	+3	+5.2	+1.4	+0.1	+3.2	+3.0	+1.8	+1.3	+1.0	-0.2	-0.1	+0.1	+0.3	+.015	+1.0	+3.6		+0.2	+0.4	+.017
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
	Joel Embiid	Karl Malone
Season	2018-19	1987-88
Team	Philadelphia 76ers	Utah Jazz
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	All-NBA Second Team
	All-Defensive Second Team	All-Defensive Second Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	76ers Lost East Conf Semis	Jazz Lost West Conf Semis

more >>

3rd Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Joel Embiid	64	33.7	27.5	2.5	11.1	13.6	3.7	0.7	1.9	3.5	3.3	9.1	18.7	.484	1.2	4.1	.300	8.2	10.1	.804
difference:	+18	+5.3	+0.2	+0.9	+2.5	+1.6	+1.3	+0.7	+1.3	-0.5	-0.3	+1.4	+1.4	+.036	+1.2	+4.0	+.300	+1.5	+0.5	+.104
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		%
Joel Embiid	11	30.4	20.2	1.9	8.5	10.5	3.4	0.7	2.3	3.6	3.1	6.2	14.5	.428	1.1	3.5	.308	6.7	8.2	.822
difference:		+14.5	+9.5	+1.1	+0.3	+1.3	+1.9	+0.5	+1.7	-0.1	-0.1	+5.0	+8.7	+.054	+1.1	+3.4	+.308	+0.7	+2.0	+.099
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
	Joel Embiid	Karl Malone
Season	2019-20	1988-89
Team	Philadelphia 76ers	Utah Jazz
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
	-	All-Star Game MVP
Playoffs	76ers Lost East Conf 1st Rd	Jazz Lost West Conf 1st Rd

more >>

4th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Joel Embiid	51	29.5	23.0	2.8	8.9	11.6	3.0	0.9	1.3	3.1	3.4	7.5	15.7	.477	1.1	3.4	.331	6.9	8.5	.807
difference:	+29	+9.6	+6.1	+0.4	+1.5	+0.9	+0.3	+0.9	+0.4	-0.5	-0.2	+2.6	+3.8	+.042	+1.0	+3.2	+.018	+1.9	+3.0	+.041
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		%
Joel Embiid	4	36.3	30.0	2.8	9.5	12.3	1.3	1.5	1.3	3.8	4.5	8.5	18.5	.459	1.0	4.0	.250	12.0	14.8	.814
difference:	+1	+9.0	+0.7	+4.5	+0.5	+4.0		+0.5	+1.0	-0.5	-0.8	+2.5	+3.5	+.041	+1.0	+4.0		+3.3	+4.1	+.001
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
	Joel Embiid	Karl Malone
Season	2020-21	1989-90
Team	Philadelphia 76ers	Utah Jazz
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	All-NBA Second Team	-
	All-Defensive Second Team	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	76ers Lost East Conf Semis	Jazz Lost West Conf 1st Rd

more >>

5th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Joel Embiid	51	31.1	28.5	2.2	8.4	10.6	2.8	1.0	1.4	3.1	2.4	9.0	17.6	.513	1.1	3.0	.377	9.2	10.7	.859
difference:	+31	+7.0	+2.5	+0.6	+0.1	+0.5		+0.5	+0.8	-0.6	-0.8	+2.1	+2.2	+.049	+0.9	+2.5	+.005	+0.7	+0.4	+.097
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		%
Joel Embiid	11	32.5	28.1	1.5	9.1	10.5	3.4	1.0	1.5	3.8	3.0	9.2	17.9	.513	1.5	3.7	.390	8.3	9.9	.835
difference:	+6	+8.1	+2.9	+1.7	+2.1	+0.3	+1.2	+1.2	+0.5	-1.4	-1.4		+3.1	+.075	+1.5	+3.5	+.390	+1.5	+0.9	+.079
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
	Joel Embiid	Karl Malone
Season	2021-22	1990-91
Team	Philadelphia 76ers	Utah Jazz
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	All-NBA Second Team	-
	Scoring Leader	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	76ers Lost East Conf Semis	Jazz Lost West Conf Semis

more >>

6th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Joel Embiid	68	33.8	30.6	2.1	9.6	11.7	4.2	1.1	1.5	3.1	2.7	9.8	19.6	.499	1.4	3.7	.371	9.6	11.8	.814
difference:	+14	+6.5	+1.6	+0.8	+0.7	+0.1	+0.9		+0.5	-0.1	-0.6	+0.5		+.028	+1.4	+3.5	+.085	+1.3	+1.0	+.044
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		%
Joel Embiid	10	38.5	23.6	2.1	8.6	10.7	2.1	0.4	0.8	3.2	3.4	7.8	16.1	.484	0.7	3.3	.212	7.3	8.9	.820
difference:	+1	+4.1	+6.1	+0.5	+2.2	+2.6	+1.1	+0.6	+0.4	-0.3	-0.5	+2.8	+7.1	+.029	+0.7	+2.4	+.212	+1.3	+1.2	+.026
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
	Joel Embiid	Karl Malone
Season	2022-23	1991-92
Team	Philadelphia 76ers	Utah Jazz
Honors & Awards	Season MVP	-
	All-NBA First Team	All-NBA First Team
	Scoring Leader	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	76ers Lost East Conf Semis	Jazz Lost West Conf Finals

more >>

7th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Joel Embiid	66	34.6	33.1	1.7	8.4	10.2	4.2	1.0	1.7	3.4	3.1	11.0	20.1	.548	1.0	3.0	.330	10.0	11.7	.857
difference:	+15	+3.1	+5.1	+1.1		+1.0	+1.2	+0.3	+1.1	-0.3	-0.3	+1.1	+1.4	+.022	+1.0	+2.8	+.154	+1.7	+1.0	+.079
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		%
Joel Embiid	9	37.3	23.7	1.8	8.0	9.8	2.7	0.7	2.8	3.9	3.0	7.3	17.0	.431	0.6	3.1	.179	8.4	9.3	.905
difference:	+7	+5.7	+5.4	+0.9	+0.6	+1.5	+0.1	+0.7	+1.6	-1.0	-0.6	+2.0	+0.8	+.090	+0.6	+3.0	+.179	+2.2	+3.8	+.100
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
	Joel Embiid	Karl Malone
Season	2023-24	1992-93
Team	Philadelphia 76ers	Utah Jazz
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
	-	All-Star Game MVP
Playoffs	76ers Lost East Conf 1st Rd	Jazz Lost West Conf 1st Rd

more >>

8th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Joel Embiid	39	33.6	34.7	2.4	8.6	11.0	5.6	1.2	1.7	3.8	2.9	11.5	21.8	.529	1.4	3.6	.388	10.2	11.6	.883
difference:	+43	+4.2	+7.7	+0.4	+0.2	+0.2	+1.8	+0.3	+0.7	-0.9	-0.3	+1.8	+4.2	+.023	+1.4	+3.4	+.188	+2.7	+1.4	+.143
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		%
Joel Embiid	6	41.3	33.0	3.2	7.7	10.8	5.7	1.2	1.5	4.2	3.3	9.8	22.2	.444	2.2	6.5	.333	11.2	13.0	.859
difference:	+1	+1.9	+9.0	+0.8	+0.3	+0.4	+3.7		+1.1	-0.2	-0.9	+1.0	+2.8	+.010	+2.0	+6.1	+.167	+5.0	+5.4	+.043
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
	Joel Embiid	Karl Malone
Season	2024-25	1993-94
Team	Philadelphia 76ers	Utah Jazz
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Jazz Lost West Conf Finals

more >>

9th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Joel Embiid	19	30.2	23.8	1.9	6.3	8.2	4.5	0.7	0.9	3.3	2.2	7.4	16.6	.444	1.2	4.1	.299	7.8	8.9	.882
difference:	+63	+10.4	+1.4	+1.0	+2.3	+3.3	+0.5	+0.8	+0.6	-0.4	-1.1	+2.0	+2.3	+.053	+1.1	+3.7	+.049	+1.6	+0.1	+.188
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		%
Joel Embiid	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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
	Joel Embiid	Karl Malone
Season	2025-26	1994-95
Team	Philadelphia 76ers	Utah Jazz
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Jazz Lost West Conf 1st Rd

more >>

10th Season Stats Comparison
Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Joel Embiid	11	26.2	20.5	1.8	4.8	6.6	2.8	0.8	1.3	2.5	2.0	6.8	16.2	.421	1.1	4.8	.226	5.7	7.0	.818
difference:	+71	+11.9	+6.2	+0.1	+3.9	+4.0	+0.7	+0.8	+0.3	-0.4	-1.3	+3.3	+2.7	+.115	+1.0	+4.3	+.042	+0.6	+1.5	+.076
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		%
Joel Embiid	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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

Additional Years
* Karl Malone played 9 seasons more than Joel Embiid in the NBA. In that period—his seasons 11 to 19, from 1996 to 2004—Karl Malone played in 9 Playoffs. In those 9 extra years over Joel Embiid, Karl Malone got these achievements:
Honors & Awards	2 Season MVP 4 All-NBA First Team 1 All-NBA Second Team 1 All-NBA Third Team 3 All-Defensive First Team 6 All-Star Game