Karl Malone vs. Karl-Anthony Towns Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Karl-Anthony Towns 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 Karl-Anthony Towns, who played 11. Karl Malone had the first of his seasons in 1985-86, while Karl-Anthony Towns had his rookie season in 2015-16. 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	Karl-Anthony Towns
Season	1985-86	2015-16
Team	Utah Jazz	Minnesota Timberwolves
Honors & Awards	-	Rookie of the Year
	All-Rookie First Team	All-Rookie First Team
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:	+1	+1.4	+3.4	+0.7	+1.0	+1.6	+0.9	+0.6	+1.2	-1.2	-0.6	+1.4	+1.6	+.046	+0.4	+1.1		+0.3	+1.6	+.330
Karl-Anthony Towns	82	32.0	18.3	2.8	7.7	10.5	2.0	0.7	1.7	2.2	3.0	7.6	14.1	.542	0.4	1.1	.341	2.7	3.4	.811
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
Karl-Anthony Towns	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 3
	Karl Malone	Karl-Anthony Towns
Season	1987-88	2017-18
Team	Utah Jazz	Minnesota Timberwolves
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
	-	All-NBA Third Team
	All-Defensive Second Team	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Jazz Lost West Conf Semis	Timberwolves 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:		+3.4	+6.4	+0.5	+0.8	+0.3		+0.6	+0.8	-2.1	-0.1	+2.7	+5.8	+.025	+1.5	+3.4	+.421	+2.5	+4.7	+.158
Karl-Anthony Towns	82	35.6	21.3	2.9	9.4	12.3	2.4	0.8	1.4	1.9	3.5	7.8	14.3	.545	1.5	3.5	.421	4.2	4.9	.858
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:	+6	+10.9	+14.5		+1.6	+1.6	+0.7	+0.8	+0.4	-1.1	-0.4	+5.6	+11.2	+.015	+0.6	+2.1	+.273	+4.0	+5.6	+.016
Karl-Anthony Towns	5	34.0	15.2	3.0	10.4	13.4	2.2	0.4	1.0	2.4	2.8	5.6	12.0	.467	0.6	2.2	.273	3.4	4.6	.739

Season 4
	Karl Malone	Karl-Anthony Towns
Season	1988-89	2018-19
Team	Utah Jazz	Minnesota Timberwolves
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
	All-Star Game MVP	-
Playoffs	Jazz Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Did Not Play

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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:	+3	+6.0	+4.7	+0.2	+1.6	+1.7	+0.7	+0.9	+0.7	-0.5	-0.2	+1.3	+2.4	+.001	+1.7	+4.4	+.087	+3.9	+5.7	+.070
Karl-Anthony Towns	77	33.1	24.4	3.4	9.0	12.4	3.4	0.9	1.6	3.1	3.8	8.8	17.1	.518	1.8	4.6	.400	4.9	5.8	.836
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
Karl-Anthony Towns	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 5
	Karl Malone	Karl-Anthony Towns
Season	1989-90	2019-20
Team	Utah Jazz	Minnesota Timberwolves
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Jazz Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Did Not Play

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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:	+47	+4.2	+4.5	+0.1	+0.2	+0.3	+1.6	+0.6	+0.6	-0.6	-0.1	+2.1	+2.0	+.054	+3.1	+7.4	+.040	+3.4	+4.6	+.034
Karl-Anthony Towns	35	33.9	26.5	2.7	8.1	10.8	4.4	0.9	1.2	3.1	3.3	9.0	17.8	.508	3.3	7.9	.412	5.1	6.5	.796
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
Karl-Anthony Towns	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 6
	Karl Malone	Karl-Anthony Towns
Season	1990-91	2020-21
Team	Utah Jazz	Minnesota Timberwolves
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Jazz Lost West Conf Semis	Did Not Play

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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:	+32	+6.5	+4.2	+0.2	+1.0	+1.2	+1.2	+0.3	+0.1	-0.2	-0.4	+1.8	+2.1	+.041	+2.4	+6.1	+.101	+3.0	+4.6	+.089
Karl-Anthony Towns	50	33.8	24.8	2.7	7.9	10.6	4.5	0.8	1.1	3.2	3.7	8.5	17.5	.486	2.4	6.3	.387	5.3	6.2	.859
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
Karl-Anthony Towns	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 7
	Karl Malone	Karl-Anthony Towns
Season	1991-92	2021-22
Team	Utah Jazz	Minnesota Timberwolves
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	-	All-NBA Third Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Jazz Lost West Conf Finals	Timberwolves 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:	+7	+4.2	+3.4	+0.2	+1.2	+1.4	+0.6	+0.3	+0.5		-0.8	+1.2	+2.3	+.003	+2.0	+4.7	+.234	+3.1	+4.4	+.044
Karl-Anthony Towns	74	33.5	24.6	2.6	7.2	9.8	3.6	1.0	1.1	3.1	3.6	8.7	16.4	.529	2.0	4.9	.410	5.2	6.3	.822
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	+6.0	+7.3	+0.9	+0.4	+0.5	+0.4	+0.7	+0.8	-1.6	-0.6	+2.8	+4.5	+.033	+1.7	+3.6	+.455	+3.4	+4.8	+.055
Karl-Anthony Towns	6	37.0	21.8	1.8	9.0	10.8	2.2	0.7	2.0	4.5	4.2	6.5	13.3	.488	1.7	3.7	.455	7.2	8.3	.860

Season 8
	Karl Malone	Karl-Anthony Towns
Season	1992-93	2022-23
Team	Utah Jazz	Minnesota Timberwolves
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
	All-Star Game MVP	-
Playoffs	Jazz Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Timberwolves Lost West Conf 1st Rd

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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:	+53	+4.8	+6.2	+1.1	+1.9	+3.1	+1.0	+0.8	+0.4	-0.1	-0.6	+2.4	+2.8	+.057	+2.1	+5.5	+.166	+3.4	+5.5	+.134
Karl-Anthony Towns	29	33.0	20.8	1.7	6.5	8.1	4.8	0.7	0.6	3.0	3.8	7.3	14.8	.495	2.1	5.7	.366	4.1	4.7	.874
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
difference:		+7.2	+5.8	+1.2	+1.0	+0.2		+0.6	+0.4	-0.4		+2.4	+5.4	+.003	+1.0	+4.4	+.250	+2.0	+2.0	+.066
Karl-Anthony Towns	5	36.0	18.2	1.2	9.0	10.2	2.0	0.6	0.8	3.6	4.2	6.4	14.0	.457	1.2	4.8	.250	4.2	5.6	.750

Season 9
	Karl Malone	Karl-Anthony Towns
Season	1993-94	2023-24
Team	Utah Jazz	Minnesota Timberwolves
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Jazz Lost West Conf Finals	Timberwolves Lost West Conf 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:	+20	+7.9	+3.4	+1.4	+1.8	+3.2	+1.0	+0.8	+0.8			+1.7	+3.6	+.007	+2.1	+4.9	+.166	+2.1	+4.3	+.179
Karl-Anthony Towns	62	32.7	21.8	1.5	6.8	8.3	3.0	0.7	0.7	2.9	3.3	7.7	15.3	.504	2.2	5.3	.416	4.1	4.7	.873
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:		+11.3	+8.0	+1.1	+2.3	+3.4	+0.8	+0.6	+0.6	-0.4	-0.3	+3.1	+6.6	+.001	+1.9	+4.9	+.361	+3.7	+5.7	+.117
Karl-Anthony Towns	16	32.6	19.1	2.2	6.8	9.0	2.6	0.8	0.2	1.7	3.4	6.8	14.5	.466	1.9	5.2	.361	3.7	4.3	.855

Season 10
	Karl Malone	Karl-Anthony Towns
Season	1994-95	2024-25
Team	Utah Jazz	New York Knicks
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	-	All-NBA Third Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Jazz Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Knicks Lost East Conf 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:	+10	+3.1	+2.3	+1.0	+1.1	+2.2	+0.4	+0.6	+0.3	-0.2	-0.2	+1.2	+2.0	+.010	+1.9	+4.2	+.152	+1.6	+2.8	+.087
Karl-Anthony Towns	72	35.0	24.4	2.9	9.8	12.8	3.1	1.0	0.7	2.7	3.5	8.9	16.9	.526	2.0	4.7	.420	4.7	5.7	.829
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:	+13	+7.7	+8.8	+0.9	+0.7	+1.6	+2.5	+0.7	+0.3	-0.6	-0.7	+1.9	+4.8	+.022	+1.2	+3.5	+.018	+6.2	+10.2	+.153
Karl-Anthony Towns	18	35.5	21.4	2.1	9.5	11.6	1.3	0.7	0.7	2.2	4.3	7.7	15.8	.488	1.4	4.1	.351	4.6	5.4	.845

Season 11
	Karl Malone	Karl-Anthony Towns
Season	1995-96	2025-26
Team	Utah Jazz	New York Knicks
Honors & Awards	All-NBA First Team	-
	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Jazz Lost West Conf Finals	Did Not Play

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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:	+80	+6.0	+3.2	+1.4	+0.8	+2.2	+1.7	+1.2	+0.2	-1.6		+4.1	+4.5	+.126	+2.3	+4.5	+.100	+2.8	+1.9	+.134
Karl-Anthony Towns	2	32.0	22.5	3.5	8.5	12.0	2.5	0.5	0.5	4.0	3.0	5.5	14.0	.393	2.5	5.0	.500	9.0	10.5	.857
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
Karl-Anthony Towns	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Additional Years
* Karl Malone played 8 seasons more than Karl-Anthony Towns 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 Karl-Anthony Towns, 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