Sports Nicknames - The Mailman

Karl Malone is an all-time NBA legend, whose performances, consistency, and skill set made him the finest power forward of his generation. It was his level of consistency that earned him a very special, unique, distinctive, and fairly amusing nickname.




The Mailman

The story goes back to his early days at the College Basketball level. He played College Basketball for Louisiana Tech University and helped his team to win its first-ever NCAA tournament in 1984. Such was his consistency at the level that the commentators started calling him the mailman because he always stepped up and delivered for his team.

As mail regularly arrives regardless of a thunderous storm or blazing sun, so did the Basketball legend Karl Malone. He delivered on all times and went on to register his name in the NBA Hall of Fame for his immaculate career.


Bit of Banter:

His nickname did bring him under the heat in the 1997 NBA Finals. The game 1 between Chicago Bulls and Utah Jazz was played on Sunday. Scottie Pippen used the occasion to troll Malone ahead of Utah's two free throws in the final seconds of the game. Pippen told Malone, 'Mailman does not deliver on Sundays, Karl.' Sadly, Karl missed both the throws and Chicago went on to win the game and eventually the NBA Championship. This was a rare occasion of Karl's nickname backfiring.


Career Trajectory:

Malone was picked up at the 1985 Draft by Utah Jazz and stayed there till the end of 2003. Over his career, his ability to deliver regularly for his team remained a hallmark. Twice he became the NBA Most Valuable Player in 1997 and 1999. He made it to the NBA All-Star Team 14 times while booking his spot in the NBA Anniversary Teams on both the 50th and 75th NBA Anniversary.

By the end of his career, he finished with 36,928 points at an astounding average of 25 points per game. Overall, he is the third highest scorer in NBA history behind Kareem Abdul Jabbar and Lebron James.

He also holds the record for most successful free throws. He finished his career with almost 15,000 rebounds and more than 5,000 assists.

On an international level, he was part of the US Basketball team that won the Olympic gold medals at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics and 1996 Atlanta Olympics. He was also part of the team that won the FIBA AmeriCup 1992.

Both Utah Jazz and Louisiana Tech Bulldogs retired the Jersey number 32 as a tribute to the star player.

In 2003, Malone moved to Los Angeles Lakers before retiring from the sport at the end of the 2004 season.

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