Karl "Mailman" Malone's career had MJ stayed retired?

[GOATcards]

He'd join the single-digits number of players with 3 regular season MVP awards, and he'd probably win a title or two (against Reggie's Pacers in '98, possibly without last-minute face plant, or Zo's Heat in '97) and people would have to talk about whether he should be in the all-time top 10 even though he impregnated a 13 year old. He'd still have as many All-NBA selections but there would still be the elephant in the room as it were

just going through these hypothetical scenarios of who wins what titles under what alternative scenarios and whether/how that should affect players' all-time rankings, whatever damning details about their private lives which kill any chance for culture or hobby legacy

is he left out of the top-10 debate just on principle, despite his MVP award shares which might have been slightly inflated in an alternate reality and would be negated by his off-court behavior anyway

[Noles939913]

Are Kobe Bryant, Mike Tyson, Muhammad Ali, etc. left out of any all-time type debates based on principal? Theres your answer.

[ninjacookies]

Matt Gaetz with Jared Fogle upside, imo.


Prob steals a hypothetical ring as Brad Lohaus (in his solo appearance as a nyk) attempts to hit Bryon with the same Baldness pullback, but gets called for the pushoff and subsequently ejected for looking ridiculous.


Don't overthink it.

[msink28]

I think to answer your question directly, people would probably discuss Malone more as a top-15 player if he had more MVPs and a title or two. If MJ had stayed retired, I'm not sure I'd put Malone at the top of the list of guys whose legacies would improve. I think Shaq, Hakeem, and GP would probably benefit the most.

[GOATcards]

instead of only 2 regular season MVPs and a Game 6 faceplant, he might have won 3 straight MVPs and 2 Finals MVPs, putting him squarely in the top 8-10 discussion of on-court performers and still a hobby nobody for the ick factor

[hermanotarjeta]

He’d be nose to nose with Bron on the lists.

His buddy Stockton would be a lot closer to Steph as well.

[TheGoatOfLife]

If Jordan stayed retired Karl would’ve delivered mail on Sunday!

And pissed off every Chick-fil-A worker!


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[peterfox16]

If Jordan stayed retired and Malone picked up an MVP and championship, I think we’d only view him a bit higher than we do now in the list of all time greats. I think what hurts him more than the lack of championships is that he played with another legend who had assist stats every bit as impressive as Malone’s scoring stats. Their success as a duo hurts both of their individual legacies.

[codered]

Maybe in an alternate universe they win in 97 but they lose to the pacers in 98 in same said universe.

One “ship” doesn’t polish that turd

[tjforce]

I think he woulda taken the Jamz to at least 2 more titles.

[jcmel323]

Even without a ring, most rankings have Malone as 2nd best PF ever. So his upside is limited. Duncan is on goat level at PF position.

On the other hand, Stockton would have been more impactful than Karl Malone. Stockton with 1-2 rings will cement him as the 2nd best PG ever (magic 1st). (3rd when curry retire).

[GOATcards]

Originally Posted by jcmel323

Even without a ring, most rankings have Malone as 2nd best PF ever. So his upside is limited. Duncan is on goat level at PF position.

On the other hand, Stockton would have been more impactful than Karl Malone. Stockton with 1-2 rings will cement him as the 2nd best PG ever (magic 1st). (3rd when curry retire).

#2-5 in all-time PF are (chronological) Faceplant, KG, Dirk, Greek. 2 of these have a Finals MVP, one of them to go with career MVP shares near the all-important 4.0 mark. (Beard also is near 4.0 but is a notorious playoff choker, never reached the Finals, and well past his shares-accumulating prime unlike Freak)