Ranking the 30 best NBA seasons from players over 35 years old
118. . PF. Utah Jazz. Karl Malone. 14. player
The 30 best NBA seasons from players over 35 years old — 14. Karl Malone, 2000-01 (37)
John Stockton and Karl Malone were one of the greatest pairings in NBA history, and no combination can claim the level of sustained excellence the two put together. Malone scored 36,928 regular-season points over the course of his career, 2nd-most all-time, all but the final 554 of those playing alongside Stockton.
The two rank fourth and fifth all-time in games played, and this despite entering the league already a few years into their 20s. Malone missed just 10 games total in 18 seasons with the Utah Jazz, averaging 37.3 minutes per game in 1434 total contests. His endurance, availability and clockwork-like production seem unfathomable to consider.
The 2000-01 season was more of the same, with Malone playing in 81 of a possible 82 games. He averaged a steady 23.2 points and 8.3 rebounds per game, and even chipped in a career-best (to that point) assists per game at 4.5. Even at 37, he was capable of incredible explosions, such as dropping 41 points, 13 rebounds and 4 blocks in a win over Allen Iverson and the Philadelphia 76ers.
The Utah Jazz once again won more than 50 games (53-29 and the third-best net rating in the league) en route to another playoff berth for Malone and company. Malone finished the season fourth in Player Efficiency Rating (PER), fifth in win shares (13.1), fifth in box plus/minus (+6.6) and fifth in value over replacement player.
At 37 Malone was no longer the most dominant force in the league, but even with slightly reduced output he was still one of the best out there. Especially in the midst of a boom of young power forwards taking the league by storm — Kevin Garnet, Tim Duncan, Chris Webber and Dirk Nowitzki among them — an aging Malone was still holding his own and proving he was an impactful player at any age.