Karl Malone vs. Ja Morant Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Ja Morant 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, 13 more than Ja Morant, who played 6. Karl Malone had the first of his seasons in 1985-86, while Ja Morant had his rookie season in 2019-20. 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	Ja Morant
Season	1985-86	2019-20
Team	Utah Jazz	Memphis Grizzlies
Honors & Awards	-	Rookie of the Year
	All-Rookie First Team	All-Rookie First Team
Playoffs	Jazz Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Did Not Play

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		%
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:	+14	+0.4	+2.9	+1.3	+3.6	+5.0	+4.4	+0.4	+0.2	-0.1	-2.0	+0.5	+1.5	+.019	+0.9	+2.7		+1.2	+0.4	+.295
Ja Morant	67	31.0	17.8	0.8	3.1	3.9	7.3	0.9	0.3	3.3	1.6	6.7	14.0	.477	0.9	2.7	.335	3.6	4.6	.776
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
Ja Morant	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 3
	Karl Malone	Ja Morant
Season	1987-88	2021-22
Team	Utah Jazz	Memphis Grizzlies
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	All-NBA Second Team
	All-Defensive Second Team	-
	-	Most Improved Player
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Jazz Lost West Conf Semis	Grizzlies 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		%
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:	+25	+5.9	+0.3	+2.0	+4.2	+6.3	+4.3	+0.2	+0.2	-0.6	-2.1	+0.3	+0.5	+.027	+1.5	+4.4	+.344	+1.2	+2.3	+.061
Ja Morant	57	33.1	27.4	1.4	4.4	5.7	6.7	1.2	0.4	3.4	1.5	10.2	20.6	.493	1.5	4.5	.344	5.5	7.3	.761
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:	+2	+7.3	+2.6	+1.6	+2.2	+3.8	+8.3	+0.8	+0.2	-0.1	-0.8	+2.2	+2.8	+.042	+1.9	+5.5	+.340	+0.2	+0.5	+.024
Ja Morant	9	37.6	27.1	1.4	6.6	8.0	9.8	2.0	0.4	3.6	2.4	9.0	20.4	.440	1.9	5.6	.340	7.2	9.7	.747

Season 4
	Karl Malone	Ja Morant
Season	1988-89	2022-23
Team	Utah Jazz	Memphis Grizzlies
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
	All-Star Game MVP	-
Playoffs	Jazz Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Grizzlies 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		%
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:	+19	+7.2	+2.9	+2.2	+2.5	+4.8	+5.4	+0.7	+0.6	-0.2	-2.0	+0.8	+0.4	+.053	+1.4	+4.7	+.006	+2.7	+3.4	+.018
Ja Morant	61	31.9	26.2	1.0	4.9	5.9	8.1	1.1	0.3	3.4	1.6	9.3	19.9	.466	1.5	4.9	.307	6.1	8.1	.748
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:	+2	+7.9	+6.1	+5.7	+3.8	+9.5	+5.7	+0.8	+0.1	-0.9	-2.9	+2.0	+0.8	+.075	+2.6	+6.2		+4.7	+5.5	+.044
Ja Morant	5	37.4	24.6	1.6	5.2	6.8	7.0	1.8	0.2	3.4	2.4	9.0	21.2	.425	2.6	6.2	.419	4.0	5.2	.769

Season 5
	Karl Malone	Ja Morant
Season	1989-90	2023-24
Team	Utah Jazz	Memphis Grizzlies
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Jazz Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Did Not Play

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		%
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:	+73	+2.8	+5.9	+2.1	+3.4	+5.5	+5.3	+0.7		-0.7	-1.1	+2.2	+0.9	+.091	+1.4	+5.2	+.097	+2.7	+4.0	+.051
Ja Morant	9	35.3	25.1	0.7	4.9	5.6	8.1	0.8	0.6	3.0	2.1	8.9	18.9	.471	1.6	5.7	.275	5.8	7.1	.813
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
Ja Morant	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 6
	Karl Malone	Ja Morant
Season	1990-91	2024-25
Team	Utah Jazz	Memphis Grizzlies
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Jazz Lost West Conf Semis	Grizzlies Lost West Conf 1st Rd

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		%
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:	+32	+9.9	+5.8	+2.2	+5.5	+7.7	+4.0	+0.1	+0.8	-0.7	-1.0	+2.2	+1.8	+.073	+1.8	+5.5	+.023	+3.0	+4.4	+.054
Ja Morant	50	30.4	23.2	0.7	3.4	4.1	7.3	1.2	0.2	3.7	2.3	8.1	17.8	.454	1.8	5.7	.309	5.3	6.4	.824
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	+15.3	+11.4	+2.3	+9.1	+11.3	+1.8	+0.3	+0.5	-0.9	-2.9	+3.3	+5.5	+.040	+1.3	+4.4	+.250	+6.3	+6.4	+.210
Ja Morant	3	27.3	18.3	0.3	1.7	2.0	5.0	0.7	0.7	2.0	1.0	7.3	17.7	.415	1.3	5.3	.250	2.3	3.7	.636

Additional Years
* Karl Malone played 13 seasons more than Ja Morant in the NBA. In that period—his seasons 7 to 19, from 1992 to 2004—Karl Malone played in 13 Playoffs. In those 13 extra years over Ja Morant, Karl Malone got these achievements:
Honors & Awards	2 Season MVP 8 All-NBA First Team 1 All-NBA Second Team 1 All-NBA Third Team 3 All-Defensive First Team 10 All-Star Game 1 All-Star Game MVP