Does Karl Malone have a ring? Taking a closer look
Karl Malone had an 18-year NBA career. During that time, Malone was voted as the league MVP on two occasions - in 1997, and 1999. Known for his elite-level passing, Karl Malone earned the nickname of the 'mailman'. However, the star forward was also a gifted scorer and rebounder.
By the end of his career, Malone had amassed impressive statistics, including 36,928 points, 14,968 rebounds, and 5,238 assists. Despite being one of the best players of his generation, Malone was unable to secure an NBA championship. Despite playing alongside the renowned point guard John Stockton in Utah, the Jazz were unable to break through in the highly competitive Western Conference and win a title.
Karl Malone did make it to the NBA Finals on a couple of occasions but was never able to help his team close out a championship series. In fairness, Malone was facing elite talents such as Hakeem Olajuwon, Charles Barkley, and Clyde Drexler - who formed a big three on an impressive Houston Rockets team.
Then, there was the Michael Jordan-led Chicago Bulls, who also stopped the Utah Jazz, as Malone and Stockton faced a top-two duo in NBA history - with Klay Thompson and Steph Curry being the other duo in that list.
Malone may not have become an NBA champion, but he did amass a long list of individual accolades. Karl Malone was a 14-Time All-Star, 11-Time All-NBA First-Team selection, 3-Time NBA Defensive First-Team, and a Two-Time Gold Medalist with the USA National team.
Karl Malone and Charles Barkley sell Dream Team memorabilia
Recently, Karl Malone and Charles Barkley auctioned off some of their memorabilia from their time with the 1992 Dream Team. According to reports, Malone sold a jersey that Michael Jordan had signed and inscribed with "To Karl, good luck" for $3 million.
Charles Barkley also shared his reasoning for auctioning off some basketball history.
"I'm selling all my memorabilia to be underprivileged houses in my hometown. I was supposed to do it before the pandemic because stuff like that don't matter to me. But my daughter, I asked her, what she wanted. She said 'I'll take one of the gold medals,' The rest of this crap I'm going to sell for underprivileged houses in my hometown."
Barkley continued:
"Dude all that stuff is just clutter to me Dan, everybody know I won MVP, everybody know I won gold medals. Dude let me tell you something, I'm 60 years old Dan, if people come to the house and I say 'hey let's go look at my MVP trophy and look at my gold medal,' Hey I'm the biggest damn loser in the world."
During his career, Karl Malone made over $100 million, so it's unclear why he chose to part ways with some moments of NBA history. But, whoever purchased his jersey likely feels they got a great deal on it.