Kyle Kuzma vs. Karl Malone Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Karl Malone and Kyle Kuzma, 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.

Kyle Kuzma played 8 years in the NBA, 11 less than Karl Malone, who played 19. Kyle Kuzma had the first of his seasons in 2017-18, while Karl Malone had his rookie season in 1985-86. 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
	Kyle Kuzma	Karl Malone
Season	2017-18	1985-86
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Utah Jazz
Honors & Awards	All-Rookie First Team	All-Rookie First Team
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Jazz 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		%
Kyle Kuzma	77	31.2	16.1	1.1	5.1	6.3	1.8	0.6	0.4	1.8	2.1	6.1	13.5	.450	2.1	5.6	.366	1.9	2.7	.707
difference:	+4	+0.6	+1.2	+1.0	+1.6	+2.6	+1.1	+0.7	+0.1	-1.6	-1.5	+0.1	+1.0	+.046	+2.1	+5.6		+0.5	+2.3	+.226
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
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Kyle Kuzma	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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

Season 3
	Kyle Kuzma	Karl Malone
Season	2019-20	1987-88
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Utah Jazz
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
	-	All-Defensive Second Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Jazz Lost West Conf Semis

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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		%
Kyle Kuzma	61	25.0	12.8	0.9	3.6	4.5	1.3	0.5	0.4	1.5	2.1	4.8	11.0	.436	1.4	4.5	.316	1.9	2.5	.735
difference:	+21	+14.0	+14.9	+2.5	+5.0	+7.5	+1.1	+0.9	+0.2	-2.5	-1.5	+5.7	+9.1	+.084	+1.4	+4.4	+.316	+4.8	+7.1	+.035
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
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Kyle Kuzma	21	23.0	10.0	0.9	2.2	3.1	0.8	0.3	0.3	1.0	2.4	3.7	8.5	.430	1.2	4.0	.313	1.4	1.8	.784
difference:	+10	+21.9	+19.7	+2.1	+6.6	+8.7	+0.7	+0.9	+0.3	-2.5	-0.8	+7.5	+14.7	+.052	+1.2	+3.9	+.313	+6.0	+8.4	+.061
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

Season 4
	Kyle Kuzma	Karl Malone
Season	2020-21	1988-89
Team	Los Angeles Lakers	Utah Jazz
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Star Game
	-	All-Star Game MVP
Playoffs	Lakers Lost West Conf 1st Rd	Jazz Lost West Conf 1st Rd

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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		%
Kyle Kuzma	68	28.7	12.9	1.6	4.5	6.1	1.9	0.5	0.6	1.7	1.8	4.9	11.1	.443	2.0	5.6	.361	1.0	1.4	.691
difference:	+12	+10.4	+16.2	+1.6	+2.9	+4.6	+0.8	+1.3	+0.3	-1.9	-1.8	+5.2	+8.4	+.076	+1.9	+5.4	+.048	+7.8	+10.1	+.075
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
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Kyle Kuzma	6	21.5	6.3	0.7	3.2	3.8	1.2	0.3	0.2	1.0	1.3	2.3	8.0	.292	0.7	3.8	.174	1.0	1.5	.667
difference:	+3	+23.8	+24.4	+6.6	+5.8	+12.5	+0.1	+0.7	+0.1	-3.3	-4.0	+8.7	+14.0	+.208	+0.7	+3.8		+7.7	+9.2	+.146
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

Season 5
	Kyle Kuzma	Karl Malone
Season	2021-22	1989-90
Team	Washington Wizards	Utah Jazz
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Jazz Lost West Conf 1st Rd

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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		%
Kyle Kuzma	66	33.4	17.1	1.1	7.4	8.5	3.5	0.6	0.9	2.6	1.9	6.4	14.2	.452	1.9	5.7	.341	2.4	3.3	.712
difference:	+16	+4.7	+13.9	+1.7	+0.9	+2.6	+0.7	+0.9	+0.3	-1.1	-1.3	+4.7	+5.6	+.110	+1.7	+5.2	+.031	+6.1	+7.8	+.050
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
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Kyle Kuzma	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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

Season 6
	Kyle Kuzma	Karl Malone
Season	2022-23	1990-91
Team	Washington Wizards	Utah Jazz
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Jazz Lost West Conf Semis

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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		%
Kyle Kuzma	64	35.0	21.2	0.9	6.4	7.2	3.7	0.6	0.5	3.0	2.3	8.0	17.8	.448	2.5	7.5	.333	2.7	3.7	.730
difference:	+18	+5.3	+7.8	+2.0	+2.5	+4.6	+0.4	+0.5	+0.5		-1.0	+2.3	+1.8	+.079	+2.5	+7.3	+.047	+5.6	+7.1	+.040
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
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Kyle Kuzma	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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

Season 7
	Kyle Kuzma	Karl Malone
Season	2023-24	1991-92
Team	Washington Wizards	Utah Jazz
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Jazz Lost West Conf 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		%
Kyle Kuzma	70	32.6	22.2	0.9	5.7	6.6	4.2	0.5	0.7	2.7	2.2	8.7	18.8	.463	2.2	6.4	.336	2.7	3.4	.775
difference:	+11	+5.1	+5.8	+1.9	+2.7	+4.6	+1.2	+0.8	+0.1	-0.4	-0.6	+1.2	+0.1	+.063	+2.2	+6.2	+.160	+5.6	+7.3	+.003
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
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Kyle Kuzma	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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

Season 8
	Kyle Kuzma	Karl Malone
Season	2024-25	1992-93
Team	Washington Wizards, Milwaukee Bucks	Utah Jazz
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Star Game
	-	All-Star Game MVP
Playoffs	Bucks Lost East Conf 1st Rd	Jazz 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		%
Kyle Kuzma	65	29.8	14.8	0.8	4.9	5.7	2.3	0.6	0.3	2.2	1.8	5.7	13.0	.436	1.5	4.8	.307	2.0	3.1	.634
difference:	+17	+8.0	+12.2	+2.0	+3.5	+5.5	+1.5	+0.9	+0.7	-0.7	-1.4	+4.0	+4.6	+.116	+1.5	+4.6	+.107	+5.5	+7.1	+.106
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
Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Kyle Kuzma	5	20.4	5.8	0.6	1.6	2.2	0.8	0.0	0.2	0.6	2.4	2.4	7.0	.343	0.4	2.0	.200	0.6	1.2	.500
difference:		+22.8	+18.2	+1.8	+6.4	+8.2	+1.2	+1.2	+0.2	-3.4	-1.8	+6.4	+12.4	+.111	+0.2	+1.6	+.300	+5.6	+6.4	+.316
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

Additional Years
* Karl Malone played 11 seasons more than Kyle Kuzma in the NBA. In that period—his seasons 9 to 19, from 1994 to 2004—Karl Malone played in 11 Playoffs. In those 11 extra years over Kyle Kuzma, Karl Malone got these achievements:
Honors & Awards	2 Season MVP 6 All-NBA First Team 1 All-NBA Second Team 1 All-NBA Third Team 3 All-Defensive First Team 8 All-Star Game