Karl Malone vs. Bob Pettit Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Bob Pettit 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, 8 more than Bob Pettit, who played 11. Karl Malone had the first of his seasons in 1985-86, while Bob Pettit had his rookie season in 1954-55. 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	Bob Pettit
Season	1985-86	1954-55
Team	Utah Jazz	Milwaukee Hawks
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	Rookie of the Year
	All-Rookie First Team	-
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Jazz Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Did Not Play

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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:	+9	+6.3	+5.5			+4.9	+0.3					+1.0	+5.3	+.089				+3.5	+2.9	+.270
Bob Pettit	72	36.9	20.4	-	-	13.8	3.2	-	-	-	3.6	7.2	17.8	.407	-	-	-	5.9	7.9	.751
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
Bob Pettit	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 2
	Karl Malone	Bob Pettit
Season	1986-87	1955-56
Team	Utah Jazz	St. Louis Hawks
Honors & Awards	-	Season MVP
	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	Scoring Leader
	-	Rebounds Leader
	-	All-Star Game
	-	All-Star Game MVP
Playoffs	Jazz Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Hawks Lost West Div Finals

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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		%
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
difference:	+10	+4.0	+4.0			+5.8	+0.7				-1.1	+0.1	+3.6	+.083				+3.8	+3.9	+.138
Bob Pettit	72	38.8	25.7	-	-	16.2	2.6	-	-	-	2.8	9.0	20.9	.429	-	-	-	7.7	10.5	.736
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
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
difference:	+3	+5.7	+0.9			+0.9	+1.1				-1.5	+1.5	+1.6	+.053				+2.2	+1.6	+.121
Bob Pettit	8	34.3	19.1	-	-	10.5	2.3	-	-	-	2.5	5.9	16.0	.367	-	-	-	7.4	8.8	.843

Season 3
	Karl Malone	Bob Pettit
Season	1987-88	1956-57
Team	Utah Jazz	St. Louis Hawks
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	All-NBA Second Team	-
	All-Defensive Second Team	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Jazz Lost West Conf Semis	Hawks Lost NBA Finals

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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:	+11	+3.9	+3.0			+2.6	+0.5				-1.1	+1.9	+0.7	+.105				+0.8		+.073
Bob Pettit	71	35.1	24.7	-	-	14.6	1.9	-	-	-	2.5	8.6	20.8	.415	-	-	-	7.5	9.6	.773
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:	+1	+1.9	+0.1			+5.0	+1.0				-0.1	+1.4	+0.5	+.068				+2.8	+3.1	+.044
Bob Pettit	10	43.0	29.8	-	-	16.8	2.5	-	-	-	3.3	9.8	23.7	.414	-	-	-	10.2	13.3	.767

Season 4
	Karl Malone	Bob Pettit
Season	1988-89	1957-58
Team	Utah Jazz	St. Louis Hawks
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	All-NBA First Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
	All-Star Game MVP	All-Star Game MVP
Playoffs	Jazz Lost West Conf 1st Rd	NBA Champion

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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:	+10	+3.0	+4.5			+6.7	+0.5				-0.4	+1.8	+0.8	+.109				+0.8	+0.9	+.017
Bob Pettit	70	36.1	24.6	-	-	17.4	2.2	-	-	-	3.2	8.3	20.3	.410	-	-	-	8.0	10.6	.749
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:	+8	+6.2	+6.5			+0.2	+0.5				-2.5	+2.8	+1.1	+.109				+0.9		+.084
Bob Pettit	11	39.1	24.2	-	-	16.5	1.8	-	-	-	2.8	8.2	20.9	.391	-	-	-	7.8	10.7	.729

Season 5
	Karl Malone	Bob Pettit
Season	1989-90	1958-59
Team	Utah Jazz	St. Louis Hawks
Honors & Awards	-	Season MVP
	All-NBA First Team	All-NBA First Team
	-	Scoring Leader
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
	-	All-Star Game MVP
Playoffs	Jazz Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Hawks Lost West Div 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:	+10	+1.8	+1.8			+5.3	+0.3				-0.4	+1.1	+3.0	+.124				+0.8	+1.1	+.003
Bob Pettit	72	39.9	29.2	-	-	16.4	3.1	-	-	-	2.8	10.0	22.8	.438	-	-	-	9.3	12.2	.759
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:	+1	+2.2	+2.6			+2.3	+0.1				-1.1	+0.5	+1.8	+.015				+1.7	+1.8	+.029
Bob Pettit	6	42.8	27.8	-	-	12.5	2.3	-	-	-	3.3	9.7	22.8	.423	-	-	-	8.5	10.8	.785

Season 6
	Karl Malone	Bob Pettit
Season	1990-91	1959-60
Team	Utah Jazz	St. Louis Hawks
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	All-NBA First Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Jazz Lost West Conf Semis	Hawks Lost NBA Finals

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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:	+10	+0.1	+2.9			+5.2	+0.3				-0.5	+1.0	+1.6	+.089				+0.7	+0.8	+.017
Bob Pettit	72	40.2	26.1	-	-	17.0	3.6	-	-	-	2.8	9.3	21.2	.438	-	-	-	7.6	10.0	.753
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:	+5	+1.5	+3.6			+2.5	+0.5				-0.8	+1.4	+2.3	+.013				+1.0		+.092
Bob Pettit	14	41.1	26.1	-	-	15.8	3.7	-	-	-	3.1	9.2	20.9	.442	-	-	-	7.6	10.1	.754

Season 7
	Karl Malone	Bob Pettit
Season	1991-92	1960-61
Team	Utah Jazz	St. Louis Hawks
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	All-NBA First Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Jazz Lost West Conf Finals	Hawks Lost NBA 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		%
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:	+5	+2.1	+0.1			+9.1	+0.4				-0.1	+0.2	+3.9	+.079				+0.6	+0.1	+.054
Bob Pettit	76	39.8	27.9	-	-	20.3	3.4	-	-	-	2.9	10.1	22.6	.447	-	-	-	7.7	10.6	.724
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:	+4	+0.8	+0.5			+6.3	+0.6				-0.1	+0.5	+5.9	+.109				+1.5	+1.1	+.048
Bob Pettit	12	43.8	28.6	-	-	17.6	3.2	-	-	-	3.5	9.8	23.7	.412	-	-	-	9.1	12.0	.757

Season 8
	Karl Malone	Bob Pettit
Season	1992-93	1961-62
Team	Utah Jazz	St. Louis Hawks
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	All-NBA First Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
	All-Star Game MVP	All-Star Game MVP
Playoffs	Jazz Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Did Not Play

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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		%
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
difference:	+4	+4.3	+4.1			+7.5	+0.1				-0.6	+1.4	+7.1	+.102				+1.4	+1.4	+.031
Bob Pettit	78	42.1	31.1	-	-	18.7	3.7	-	-	-	3.8	11.1	24.7	.450	-	-	-	8.9	11.6	.771
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
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
Bob Pettit	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 9
	Karl Malone	Bob Pettit
Season	1993-94	1962-63
Team	Utah Jazz	St. Louis Hawks
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	All-NBA First Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Jazz Lost West Conf Finals	Hawks Lost West Div 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		%
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
difference:	+3	+1.5	+3.2			+3.6	+0.9				-0.3	+0.4	+3.2	+.051				+2.5	+2.2	+.080
Bob Pettit	79	39.1	28.4	-	-	15.1	3.1	-	-	-	3.6	9.8	22.1	.446	-	-	-	8.7	11.2	.774
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
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
difference:	+5	+1.8	+4.7			+2.7	+0.4				-0.6	+0.9	+2.4	+.008				+2.8	+3.1	+.040
Bob Pettit	11	42.1	31.8	-	-	15.1	3.0	-	-	-	3.1	10.8	23.5	.459	-	-	-	10.2	13.1	.778

Season 10
	Karl Malone	Bob Pettit
Season	1994-95	1963-64
Team	Utah Jazz	St. Louis Hawks
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	All-NBA First Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Jazz Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Hawks Lost West Div Finals

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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		%
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
difference:	+2	+3.1	+0.7			+4.7	+0.3				-0.5	+0.2	+2.5	+.073				+1.3	+1.1	+.047
Bob Pettit	80	41.2	27.4	-	-	15.3	3.2	-	-	-	3.8	9.9	21.4	.463	-	-	-	7.6	9.6	.789
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
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
difference:	+7	+2.0	+9.2			+1.3	+1.0				-0.1	+1.8	+1.8	+.054				+5.3	+9.0	+.143
Bob Pettit	12	41.2	21.0	-	-	14.5	2.8	-	-	-	3.7	7.8	18.8	.412	-	-	-	5.5	6.6	.835

Season 11
	Karl Malone	Bob Pettit
Season	1995-96	1964-65
Team	Utah Jazz	St. Louis Hawks
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	-	All-NBA Second Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Jazz Lost West Conf Finals	Hawks Lost West Div Semis

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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		%
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
difference:	+32	+2.9	+3.2			+2.6	+1.6				-0.3	+1.7		+.090				+0.4	+0.5	+.097
Bob Pettit	50	35.1	22.5	-	-	12.4	2.6	-	-	-	3.3	7.9	18.5	.429	-	-	-	6.6	8.1	.820
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
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
difference:	+14	+16.5	+15.0			+4.3	+2.4				-0.9	+6.6	+12.0	+.103				+1.6	+4.8	+.226
Bob Pettit	4	23.8	11.5	-	-	6.0	2.0	-	-	-	2.5	3.8	10.3	.366	-	-	-	4.0	5.0	.800

Additional Years
* Karl Malone played 8 seasons more than Bob Pettit in the NBA. In that period—his seasons 12 to 19, from 1997 to 2004—Karl Malone played in 8 Playoffs. In those 8 extra years over Bob Pettit, Karl Malone got these achievements:
Honors & Awards	2 Season MVP 3 All-NBA First Team 1 All-NBA Second Team 1 All-NBA Third Team 3 All-Defensive First Team 5 All-Star Game