Larry Johnson vs. Karl Malone Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Karl Malone and Larry Johnson, from their rookie seasons to their last year played, in chronological order with awards, stats, championships and playoff performance of their teams every year.

Player comparisons:
Career comparison / Season by season / Stats / Stats Rankings / Games against each other

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.

Larry Johnson played 10 years in the NBA, 9 less than Karl Malone, who played 19. Larry Johnson had the first of his seasons in 1991-92, 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.

Their Careers
Player	Total Seasons	Playoffs Played	NBA Years
Larry Johnson	10	6	1991-92 to 2000-01
Karl Malone	19	19	1985-86 to 2003-04

Comparison Season by Season
Jump to season: 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10


Rookie Season
	Larry Johnson	Karl Malone
Season	1991-92	1985-86
Team	Charlotte Hornets	Utah Jazz
Honors & Awards	Rookie of the Year	-
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		%
Larry Johnson	82	37.2	19.2	3.9	7.0	11.0	3.6	1.0	0.6	2.0	2.7	7.5	15.3	.490	0.1	0.3	.227	4.1	5.0	.829
difference:	+1	+6.6	+4.3	+1.8	+0.3	+2.1	+0.7	+0.3	+0.1	-1.4	-0.9	+1.3	+2.8	+.006	+0.1	+0.3		+1.7		+.348
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		%
Larry Johnson	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 2
	Larry Johnson	Karl Malone
Season	1992-93	1986-87
Team	Charlotte Hornets	Utah Jazz
Honors & Awards	All-NBA Second Team	-
Honors & Awards	All-Star Game	-
Playoffs	Hornets Lost East Conf Semis	Jazz Lost West Conf 1st Rd

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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		%
Larry Johnson	82	40.5	22.1	3.4	7.1	10.5	4.3	0.6	0.3	2.8	2.3	8.9	16.9	.526	0.2	0.9	.254	4.1	5.3	.767
difference:		+5.7	+0.4		+0.1	+0.1	+2.4	+0.7	+0.4	-0.1	-1.6		+0.4	+.014	+0.2	+0.8	+.254	+0.2	+1.3	+.169
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

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Johnson	9	38.7	19.8	2.1	4.8	6.9	3.3	0.6	0.2	2.1	3.0	7.6	13.6	.557	0.1	0.4	.250	4.6	5.8	.788
difference:	+4	+1.3	+0.2	+0.9	+1.8	+2.7	+2.1	+1.6	+0.6	-1.3	-1.0	+0.2	+4.0	+.137	+0.1	+0.4		+0.6	+1.4	+.066
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


Season 3
	Larry Johnson	Karl Malone
Season	1993-94	1987-88
Team	Charlotte Hornets	Utah Jazz
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
	-	All-Defensive Second Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	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		%
Larry Johnson	51	34.5	16.4	2.8	6.0	8.8	3.6	0.6	0.3	2.3	2.6	6.8	13.2	.515	0.1	0.4	.238	2.7	3.9	.695
difference:	+31	+4.5	+11.3	+0.6	+2.6	+3.2	+1.2	+0.8	+0.3	-1.7	-1.0	+3.7	+6.9	+.005	+0.1	+0.3	+.238	+4.0	+5.7	+.005
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		%
Larry Johnson	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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
	Larry Johnson	Karl Malone
Season	1994-95	1988-89
Team	Charlotte Hornets	Utah Jazz
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
	-	All-Star Game MVP
Playoffs	Hornets Lost East 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		%
Larry Johnson	81	39.9	18.8	2.3	4.9	7.2	4.6	1.0	0.3	2.6	2.1	7.2	15.0	.480	1.0	2.6	.386	3.4	4.4	.774
difference:	+1	+0.8	+10.3	+0.9	+2.5	+3.5	+1.9	+0.8	+0.6	-1.0	-1.5	+2.9	+4.5	+.039	+0.9	+2.4	+.073	+5.4	+7.1	+.008
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		%
Larry Johnson	4	43.0	20.8	2.5	3.3	5.8	2.8	1.0	0.5	1.5	1.8	7.8	16.3	.477	0.3	2.3	.111	5.0	6.3	.800
difference:	+1	+2.3	+9.9	+4.8	+5.7	+10.5	+1.5		+0.2	-2.8	-3.5	+3.2	+5.7	+.023	+0.3	+2.3		+3.7	+4.4	+.013
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
	Larry Johnson	Karl Malone
Season	1995-96	1989-90
Team	Charlotte Hornets	Utah Jazz
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
Honors & Awards	-	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		%
Larry Johnson	81	40.4	20.5	3.1	5.4	8.4	4.4	0.7	0.5	2.2	2.1	7.2	15.1	.476	0.8	2.3	.366	5.3	7.0	.757
difference:	+1	+2.3	+10.5	+0.3	+2.9	+2.7	+1.6	+0.8	+0.1	-1.5	-1.1	+3.9	+4.7	+.086	+0.6	+1.8	+.006	+3.2	+4.1	+.005
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		%
Larry Johnson	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
	Larry Johnson	Karl Malone
Season	1996-97	1990-91
Team	New York Knicks	Utah Jazz
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Knicks Lost East Conf Semis	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		%
Larry Johnson	76	34.4	12.8	2.2	3.0	5.2	2.3	0.8	0.5	1.8	3.3	4.9	9.7	.512	0.4	1.4	.324	2.5	3.6	.693
difference:	+6	+5.9	+16.2	+0.7	+5.9	+6.6	+1.0	+0.3	+0.5	-1.2		+5.4	+9.9	+.015	+0.4	+1.2	+.038	+5.8	+7.2	+.077
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		%
Larry Johnson	9	32.6	13.8	1.2	2.8	4.0	2.6	0.8	0.1	1.7	3.0	4.8	8.6	.558	0.7	1.9	.353	3.6	4.2	.842
difference:		+10.0	+15.9	+1.4	+8.0	+9.3	+0.6	+0.2	+1.1	-1.2	-0.9	+5.8	+14.6	+.103	+0.7	+1.0	+.353	+5.0	+5.9	+.004
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
	Larry Johnson	Karl Malone
Season	1997-98	1991-92
Team	New York Knicks	Utah Jazz
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Knicks Lost East Conf Semis	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		%
Larry Johnson	70	34.5	15.5	2.5	3.2	5.7	2.1	0.6	0.2	1.8	2.8	6.1	12.6	.485	0.2	0.9	.238	3.1	4.0	.756
difference:	+11	+3.2	+12.5	+0.3	+5.2	+5.5	+0.9	+0.7	+0.4	-1.3		+3.8	+6.1	+.041	+0.2	+0.7	+.062	+5.2	+6.7	+.022
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		%
Larry Johnson	8	38.8	17.9	3.1	3.5	6.6	1.6	1.3	0.4	3.1	3.8	6.5	13.4	.486	0.3	1.3	.200	4.6	6.3	.740
difference:	+8	+4.2	+11.2	+0.4	+5.1	+4.7	+1.0	+0.1	+0.8	-0.2	-0.2	+2.8	+4.4	+.035	+0.3	+1.2	+.200	+6.0	+6.8	+.065
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
	Larry Johnson	Karl Malone
Season	1998-99	1992-93
Team	New York Knicks	Utah Jazz
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Star Game
	-	All-Star Game MVP
Playoffs	Knicks Lost NBA Finals	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		%
Larry Johnson	49	33.4	12.0	1.9	3.9	5.8	2.4	0.7	0.2	1.8	3.0	4.3	9.3	.459	0.7	1.9	.359	2.7	3.3	.817
difference:	+33	+4.4	+15.0	+0.9	+4.5	+5.4	+1.4	+0.8	+0.8	-1.1	-0.2	+5.4	+8.3	+.093	+0.7	+1.7	+.159	+4.8	+6.9	+.077
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		%
Larry Johnson	20	34.1	11.5	1.1	3.8	4.9	1.6	1.1	0.1	1.7	3.2	4.4	10.2	.426	1.2	4.1	.293	1.6	2.3	.674
difference:	+15	+9.1	+12.5	+1.3	+4.2	+5.5	+0.4	+0.1	+0.3	-2.3	-1.0	+4.4	+9.2	+.028	+1.0	+3.7	+.207	+4.6	+5.3	+.142
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


Season 9
	Larry Johnson	Karl Malone
Season	1999-00	1993-94
Team	New York Knicks	Utah Jazz
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Knicks Lost East Conf Finals	Jazz 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		%
Larry Johnson	70	32.6	10.7	1.2	4.2	5.4	2.5	0.6	0.1	1.3	2.9	4.0	9.3	.433	0.8	2.5	.333	1.8	2.4	.766
difference:	+12	+8.0	+14.5	+1.7	+4.4	+6.1	+1.5	+0.9	+1.4	-1.6	-0.4	+5.4	+9.6	+.064	+0.7	+2.1	+.083	+4.4	+6.6	+.072
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

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Johnson	16	36.8	11.3	0.9	4.1	5.0	1.6	0.5	0.1	1.4	2.9	4.4	9.5	.461	0.8	2.1	.394	1.7	2.1	.794
difference:		+7.1	+15.8	+2.4	+5.0	+7.4	+1.8	+0.9	+0.7	-0.7	-0.8	+5.5	+11.6	+.006	+0.8	+1.8	+.394	+5.7	+7.9	+.056
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


Season 10
	Larry Johnson	Karl Malone
Season	2000-01	1994-95
Team	New York Knicks	Utah Jazz
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Jazz Lost West Conf 1st Rd

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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		%
Larry Johnson	65	32.4	9.9	1.4	4.2	5.6	2.0	0.6	0.4	1.5	3.2	3.8	9.2	.411	0.8	2.5	.313	1.6	2.0	.797
difference:	+17	+5.7	+16.8	+0.5	+4.5	+5.0	+1.5	+1.0	+0.6	-1.4	-0.1	+6.3	+9.7	+.125	+0.7	+2.0	+.045	+4.7	+6.5	+.055
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

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Larry Johnson	DNP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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


Additional Years
* Karl Malone played 9 seasons more than Larry Johnson in the NBA. In that period—his seasons 11 to 19, from 1996 to 2004—Karl Malone played in 9 Playoffs. In those 9 extra years over Larry Johnson, Karl Malone got these achievements:
Honors & Awards	2 Season MVP 4 All-NBA First Team 1 All-NBA Second Team 1 All-NBA Third Team 3 All-Defensive First Team 6 All-Star Game

Larry Johnson vs. Karl Malone Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Karl Malone and Larry Johnson, from their rookie seasons to their last year played, in chronological order with awards, stats, championships and playoff performance of their teams every year.

Their Careers

Comparison Season by Season

Rookie Season

Rookie Season Stats Comparison

Season 2

2nd Season Stats Comparison

Season 3

3rd Season Stats Comparison

Season 4

4th Season Stats Comparison

Season 5

5th Season Stats Comparison

Season 6

6th Season Stats Comparison

Season 7

7th Season Stats Comparison

Season 8

8th Season Stats Comparison

Season 9

9th Season Stats Comparison

Season 10

10th Season Stats Comparison

Additional Years