Karl Malone vs. Arvydas Sabonis Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Arvydas Sabonis and Karl Malone, 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.

Karl Malone played 19 years in the NBA, 12 more than Arvydas Sabonis, who played 7. Karl Malone had the first of his seasons in 1985-86, while Arvydas Sabonis had his rookie season in 1995-96. 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
	Karl Malone	Arvydas Sabonis
Season	1985-86	1995-96
Team	Utah Jazz	Portland Trail Blazers
Honors & Awards	All-Rookie First Team	All-Rookie First Team
Playoffs	Jazz Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Trail Blazers 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		%
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
difference:	+8	+6.8	+0.4	+0.1	+0.7	+0.8	+1.1	+0.4	+0.6	-1.3	-0.7	+0.8	+2.6	+.049	+0.5	+1.4		+0.8	+0.8	+.276
Arvydas Sabonis	73	23.8	14.5	2.0	6.0	8.1	1.8	0.9	1.1	2.1	2.9	5.4	9.9	.545	0.5	1.4	.375	3.2	4.2	.757
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
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
difference:	+1	+0.6	+1.8	+0.9	+1.8	+2.7	+0.8	+1.2	+0.6	-0.5	-1.1	+2.5	+1.8	+.096	+1.0	+1.8		+5.8	+5.5	+.294
Arvydas Sabonis	5	35.4	23.6	2.4	7.8	10.2	1.8	0.8	0.6	2.0	3.4	7.0	16.2	.432	1.0	1.8	.556	8.6	12.0	.717

Season 3
	Karl Malone	Arvydas Sabonis
Season	1987-88	1997-98
Team	Utah Jazz	Portland Trail Blazers
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
	All-Defensive Second Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Jazz Lost West Conf Semis	Trail Blazers Lost West Conf 1st Rd

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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		%
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
difference:	+9	+7.0	+11.7	+1.4	+0.7	+2.0	+0.6	+0.5	+0.5	-1.4	-0.1	+4.9	+8.8	+.027	+0.4	+1.5	+.261	+2.3	+4.1	+.098
Arvydas Sabonis	73	32.0	16.0	2.0	7.9	10.0	3.0	0.9	1.1	2.6	3.7	5.6	11.3	.493	0.4	1.6	.261	4.4	5.5	.798
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
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
difference:	+7	+18.1	+17.4	+1.2	+2.8	+4.0		+0.6	+0.2	-1.0	-1.6	+6.7	+13.2	+.032	+0.3	+0.4	+.500	+4.4	+6.7	+.134
Arvydas Sabonis	4	26.8	12.3	1.8	6.0	7.8	1.5	1.8	0.8	2.5	4.8	4.5	10.0	.450	0.3	0.5	.500	3.0	3.5	.857

Season 4
	Karl Malone	Arvydas Sabonis
Season	1988-89	1998-99
Team	Utah Jazz	Portland Trail Blazers
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
	All-Star Game MVP	-
Playoffs	Jazz Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Trail Blazers Lost West Conf Finals

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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		%
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
difference:	+30	+12.1	+17.0	+1.4	+1.3	+2.8	+0.3	+1.1	+0.4	-1.9	-0.7	+5.5	+9.9	+.034		+0.3	+.021	+6.1	+8.0	+.005
Arvydas Sabonis	50	27.0	12.1	1.8	6.1	7.9	2.4	0.7	1.3	1.7	2.9	4.6	9.6	.485	0.1	0.5	.292	2.7	3.5	.771
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
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
difference:	+10	+15.2	+20.7	+6.4	+1.2	+7.5	+0.9	+0.2	+0.9	-2.8	-2.6	+7.5	+13.3	+.102	+0.1	+0.4		+5.7	+7.4	+.094
Arvydas Sabonis	13	30.1	10.0	0.9	7.8	8.8	2.2	1.2	1.2	1.5	2.7	3.5	8.7	.398	0.1	0.4	.200	3.0	3.3	.907

Season 5
	Karl Malone	Arvydas Sabonis
Season	1989-90	1999-00
Team	Utah Jazz	Portland Trail Blazers
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Jazz Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Trail Blazers Lost West Conf Finals

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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		%
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
difference:	+16	+12.5	+19.2	+1.3	+2.0	+3.3	+1.0	+0.8	+0.6	-2.2	-0.4	+6.5	+10.7	+.057	+0.1	+0.2	+.004	+6.0	+8.1	+.081
Arvydas Sabonis	66	25.6	11.8	1.5	6.3	7.8	1.8	0.7	1.2	1.5	2.8	4.6	9.1	.505	0.1	0.3	.368	2.5	3.0	.843
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
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
difference:	+11	+9.8	+13.9	+2.0	+1.5	+3.5	+0.3	+1.3	+0.2	-0.8	-0.7	+4.9	+11.6	+.015	+0.4	+1.1	+.286	+4.4	+5.9	+.040
Arvydas Sabonis	16	30.8	11.3	1.2	5.5	6.7	1.9	0.9	0.8	1.6	3.7	4.3	9.4	.453	0.4	1.3	.286	2.4	3.1	.796

Season 6
	Karl Malone	Arvydas Sabonis
Season	1990-91	2000-01
Team	Utah Jazz	Portland Trail Blazers
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Jazz Lost West Conf Semis	Trail Blazers Lost West Conf 1st Rd

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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		%
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
difference:	+21	+19.0	+18.9	+2.1	+4.3	+6.4	+1.8	+0.4		-1.6	-1.1	+6.3	+11.1	+.048			+.219	+6.3	+8.2	+.006
Arvydas Sabonis	61	21.3	10.1	0.8	4.6	5.4	1.5	0.7	1.0	1.4	2.2	4.0	8.5	.479	0.0	0.2	.067	2.0	2.6	.776
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
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
difference:	+6	+7.6	+18.4	+0.1	+5.1	+5.0	+0.5	+0.7	+1.1	-2.2	-0.1	+5.9	+13.5	+.028		+0.2		+6.6	+7.4	+.096
Arvydas Sabonis	3	35.0	11.3	2.7	5.7	8.3	2.7	0.3	2.3	0.7	4.0	4.7	9.7	.483	0.0	0.7	.000	2.0	2.7	.750

Note: Arvydas Sabonis didn't play in 2001-02.

Season 7
	Karl Malone	Arvydas Sabonis
Season	1991-92	2002-03
Team	Utah Jazz	Portland Trail Blazers
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Jazz Lost West Conf Finals	Trail Blazers Lost West Conf 1st Rd

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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		%
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
difference:	+3	+22.2	+21.9	+1.7	+5.2	+6.9	+1.2	+0.5		-2.1	-1.0	+7.7	+14.1	+.050		+0.1	+.324	+6.6	+8.6	+.009
Arvydas Sabonis	78	15.5	6.1	1.1	3.2	4.3	1.8	0.8	0.6	1.0	1.8	2.2	4.6	.476	0.0	0.1	.500	1.7	2.1	.787
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
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
difference:	+10	+28.5	+19.1	+1.7	+5.6	+7.3	+1.8	+0.7	+0.5	-1.9	-1.3	+5.3	+11.8	+.146		+0.1		+8.6	+10.6	+.005
Arvydas Sabonis	6	14.5	10.0	1.0	3.0	4.0	0.8	0.7	0.7	1.0	2.3	4.0	6.0	.667	0.0	0.0	-	2.0	2.5	.800

Additional Years
* Karl Malone played 12 seasons more than Arvydas Sabonis 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 Arvydas Sabonis, 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