Karl Malone vs. George Mikan Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of George Mikan 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 George Mikan, who played 7. Karl Malone had the first of his seasons in 1985-86, while George Mikan had his rookie season in 1948-49. 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	George Mikan
Season	1985-86	1948-49
Team	Utah Jazz	Minneapolis Lakers
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	All-Rookie First Team	-
	-	Scoring Leader
Playoffs	Jazz Lost West Conf 1st Rd	NBA Champion

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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:	+21		+13.4				+0.7				-0.7	+3.5	+10.9	+.080				+6.5	+6.5	+.291
George Mikan	60	-	28.3	-	-	-	3.6	-	-	-	4.3	9.7	23.4	.416	-	-	-	8.9	11.5	.772
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:	+6		+8.5				+1.1				-0.1	+0.8	+4.7	+.074				+6.9	+5.6	+.379
George Mikan	10	-	30.3	-	-	-	2.1	-	-	-	4.4	10.3	22.7	.454	-	-	-	9.7	12.1	.802

Season 2
	Karl Malone	George Mikan
Season	1986-87	1949-50
Team	Utah Jazz	Minneapolis Lakers
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	Scoring Leader
Playoffs	Jazz Lost West Conf 1st Rd	NBA Champion

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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:	+14		+5.7				+1.0				-0.5	+0.6	+6.2	+.105				+4.4	+4.1	+.181
George Mikan	68	-	27.4	-	-	-	2.9	-	-	-	4.4	9.5	23.5	.407	-	-	-	8.3	10.7	.779
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:	+7		+11.3				+1.8				-0.1	+2.7	+8.7	+.037				+6.0	+7.0	+.066
George Mikan	12	-	31.3	-	-	-	3.0	-	-	-	3.9	10.1	26.3	.383	-	-	-	11.2	14.2	.788

Season 3
	Karl Malone	George Mikan
Season	1987-88	1950-51
Team	Utah Jazz	Minneapolis Lakers
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	All-NBA Second Team	-
	All-Defensive Second Team	-
	-	Scoring Leader
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Jazz Lost West Conf Semis	Lakers Lost West Div 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:	+14		+0.7			+2.1	+0.7				-0.9	+0.5	+3.2	+.092				+1.8	+0.9	+.103
George Mikan	68	-	28.4	-	-	14.1	3.1	-	-	-	4.5	10.0	23.3	.428	-	-	-	8.5	10.5	.803
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:	+4		+5.7			+1.2	+0.2				-0.4	+2.3	+1.5	+.074				+1.1	+2.3	+.077
George Mikan	7	-	24.0	-	-	10.6	1.3	-	-	-	3.6	8.9	21.7	.408	-	-	-	6.3	7.9	.800

Season 4
	Karl Malone	George Mikan
Season	1988-89	1951-52
Team	Utah Jazz	Minneapolis Lakers
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	All-NBA First Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
	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:	+16	+1.1	+5.3			+2.8	+0.3				-0.9	+1.6	+2.6	+.134				+2.0	+2.8	+.014
George Mikan	64	40.2	23.8	-	-	13.5	3.0	-	-	-	4.5	8.5	22.1	.385	-	-	-	6.8	8.7	.780
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	+2.8	+7.1			+0.4	+1.5				-0.5	+3.4	+1.9	+.121				+0.3	+0.1	+.023
George Mikan	13	42.5	23.6	-	-	15.9	2.8	-	-	-	4.8	7.6	20.1	.379	-	-	-	8.4	10.6	.790

Season 5
	Karl Malone	George Mikan
Season	1989-90	1952-53
Team	Utah Jazz	Minneapolis Lakers
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	All-NBA First Team
	-	Rebounds Leader
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
	-	All-Star Game MVP
Playoffs	Jazz Lost West Conf 1st Rd	NBA Champion

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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:	+12	+0.2	+10.4			+3.3	+0.1				-0.9	+4.0	+1.9	+.163				+2.2	+3.0	+.018
George Mikan	70	37.9	20.6	-	-	14.4	2.9	-	-	-	4.1	7.1	17.9	.399	-	-	-	6.3	8.1	.780
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:	+7	+2.0	+5.4			+5.2	+0.3				-0.3	+2.7	+3.2	+.072					+0.3	+.024
George Mikan	12	38.6	19.8	-	-	15.4	1.9	-	-	-	4.7	6.5	17.8	.366	-	-	-	6.8	9.3	.732

Season 6
	Karl Malone	George Mikan
Season	1990-91	1953-54
Team	Utah Jazz	Minneapolis Lakers
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	All-NBA First Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Jazz Lost West Conf Semis	NBA Champion

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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	+7.5	+10.9			+2.5	+0.9				-0.4	+4.2	+3.5	+.147				+2.4	+3.2	+.007
George Mikan	72	32.8	18.1	-	-	14.3	2.4	-	-	-	3.7	6.1	16.1	.380	-	-	-	5.9	7.6	.777
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:	+4	+10.0	+10.3			+0.1	+1.3				-0.4	+3.9	+8.6	+.003				+2.6	+2.7	+.033
George Mikan	13	32.6	19.4	-	-	13.2	1.9	-	-	-	4.3	6.7	14.6	.458	-	-	-	6.0	7.4	.813

Note: George Mikan didn't play in 1954-55.

Season 7
	Karl Malone	George Mikan
Season	1991-92	1955-56
Team	Utah Jazz	Minneapolis Lakers
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Jazz Lost West Conf Finals	Lakers Lost West Div Semis

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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:	+44	+17.0	+17.5			+2.9	+1.6				-1.3	+5.9	+8.6	+.131				+5.8	+7.4	+.008
George Mikan	37	20.7	10.5	-	-	8.3	1.4	-	-	-	4.1	4.0	10.1	.395	-	-	-	2.5	3.3	.770
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:	+13	+23.0	+17.1			+2.0	+0.9				-1.1	+5.0	+6.1	+.150				+7.3	+8.8	+.036
George Mikan	3	20.0	12.0	-	-	9.3	1.7	-	-	-	4.7	4.3	11.7	.371	-	-	-	3.3	4.3	.769

Additional Years
* Karl Malone played 12 seasons more than George Mikan 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 George Mikan, 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