Dirk Nowitzki and Karl Malone are two of the greatest power forwards to ever play the game. They each made a significant impact on the game with two completely different play styles. Dirk was more of the finesse kind of power forward who relied mostly on his outside shooting and scoring more than anything. Dirk could still take defenders off of the dribble if he really wanted to, but mostly he liked to back opponents down in the paint. He did this to set up his patented one-legged fadeaway that was about as accurate as any other signature move in NBA history.
Malone, on the other hand, was much more of a physical player. He mastered the pick-and-roll offense with teammate John Stockton to the point that he ended up with the 3rd most total points ever. Malone ran the floor like a freight train and didn’t care at all about who got in his way. He could also step out a bit and knock down mid to medium-range jump shots as well. The difference in play styles between these two players is evident, but the Hall Of Fame resumes speak for themselves. Dirk Nowitzki and Karl Malone each hold a place in NBA history forever.
Let’s compare Dirk Nowitzki and Karl Malone by taking a look at their single-game career highs.
Points
Dirk Nowitzki – 53 Points (Mavericks vs. Rockets, December 2, 2004)
Karl Malone – 61 Points (Jazz vs. Bucks, January 27, 1990)
Back in December 2004, Dirk Nowitzki found himself locked in a battle with Tracy McGrady and the Houston Rockets. McGrady did all that he could with 48 points himself, but it wasn’t enough to stop Dirk and the Mavericks on this night.
Nowitzki scored 31 of his 53 points in the second half including 10 in overtime to secure the win. He played 50 out of a total of 53 possible minutes and shot 15-32 from the floor and 21-22 from the foul line. He also added 16 rebounds, 4 blocks, and 3 steals.
Malone accomplished his career-high 61 points out of spite and anger. After hearing that the Lakers’ A. C. Green was going to start in the All-Star Game over him, Malone took out his frustration on the lowly Milwaukee Bucks.
Malone came out and went 21-26 from the field, which is 82.0% shooting, to help the Jazz beat the Bucks 144-96. Malone went 19-23 from the foul line in this one as well. What makes this even more impressive is the fact that Malone only played 33 minutes and the team’s second-leading scorer was Ricky Pierce with 21 off of the bench. Word of advice: don’t piss Karl Malone off.
Advantage: Karl Malone
Rebounds
Dirk Nowitzki – 23 Rebounds (Mavericks vs. Celtics, February 21, 2002)
Karl Malone – 23 Rebounds (Jazz vs. Warriors, March 29, 1994)
Rebounding was never something that Dirk Nowitzki exactly took pride in, but when you’re a 7-foot power forward, you are bound to pick some up. Dirk tallied over 11,000 rebounds in his career and the most he ever grabbed in a game was back in 2004 vs. the Boston Celtics. Boston was slightly undersized in the paint, pairing Antoine Walker and Tony Battie to combat Dirk in the paint. Dirk responded by scoring 33 points, grabbing 23 rebounds, and blocking 4 shots. Nowitzki’s night led to a 98-92 victory at home to improve to 38-17 on the season for the Mavericks. This was the only 20+ rebound game of Nowitzki’s career.
Malone differs from Dirk in the fact that he tallied 12 20+ rebounds in his career. Malone and the Jazz were at home back in 1994 to do battle with a rookie Chris Webber, Latrell Sprewell, and the Golden State Warriors. On this night, Malone struggled on offense shooting just 8-29 from the floor for just 24 points to go with his 23 rebounds. The Jazz would fall to the Warriors 116-113 behind 35 points from Sprewell, 25 from Chris Mullin, and 21 points and 12 rebounds from Billy Owens.
Advantage: Tie
Assists
Dirk Nowitzki – 12 Assists (Mavericks vs. Bucks, February 6, 2008)
Karl Malone – 10 Assists (Recorded 7 Times, Last Recorded: Lakers vs. Hornets, March 30, 2004)
Just like rebounding, Dirk Nowitzki wasn’t known to rack up assists to stuff the stat sheet. In his 20-year career, he only tallied 10 or more assists on 3 different occasions. In this instance, the Mavericks were taking on the Milwaukee Bucks, who at the time were struggling with a 19-31 record. The Mavericks were rolling and did just that in this contest as well. The Mavericks took home the victory behind 1 of 2 career triple-doubles from Nowitzki. He recorded 29 points, 10 rebounds, and 12 assists in the 107-96 win.
As for Malone, he enjoyed a bit more sustained success as a passer. He recorded 7 games with 10 or more assists in his career. He did this 6 times as a member of the Utah Jazz and once as a Laker towards the end of his career. Malone was definitely an above-average passer for his position, specifically in an era where big men weren’t traditionally facilitators. He worked tremendously from the high post, especially when in a groove with Stockton. Opponents would collapse on Malone as soon as he touched the ball near the paint and he had no problem finding his open cutters or shooters for an easy opportunity.
Advantage: Dirk Nowitzki
Steals
Dirk Nowitzki – 9 Steals (Mavericks vs. Rockets, March 7, 2004)
Karl Malone – 7 Steals (Jazz vs. Warriors, March 12, 1986), (Jazz vs. Bullets, December 2, 1989), (Jazz vs. Suns, December 13, 1989), (Jazz vs. Bullets, February 28, 1996)
Dirk Nowitzki wasn’t known to have active hands on the defensive side of the ball. At least when it came to steals, anyway. Dirk recorded 5 or more steals just four times in his career. Unfortunately for Dirk, this 9-steal effort came in a close loss to who was becoming their rival at the time, the Houston Rockets. Nowitzki had been struggling to score the ball on this night, playing 45 minutes and scoring just 18 points on 7-19 shooting. The Rockets were doing their best to give the game away as Jim Jackson, Steve Francis, and Cuttino Mobley gave away 16 turnovers combined for Houston. It wasn’t enough though, as the Rockets prevailed 101-98.
Karl Malone was known more than Dirk for being active on the defensive side of the ball. He recorded 7 steals in a game 4 different times in his career, including twice in 11 days back in 1989. Of these 4 games, Malone also recorded 7 steals twice against the same team, the Washington Bullets. For his career, Malone accumulated 2,085 steals, which is 875 more than Dirk had in his career. No one is going to argue overall defense between these two, but when it comes to a high in a single game, Dirk takes the steals category.
Advantage: Dirk Nowitzki
Blocks
Dirk Nowitzki – 7 Blocks (Mavericks vs. Nuggets, January 6, 2006)
Karl Malone – 5 Blocks (Recorded 5 Times, Last Recorded: Jazz vs. Nuggets, March 22, 1995)
Blocks are the one defensive category in that Dirk has a cumulative advantage over Malone in their careers. Dirk blocked 1,281 shots in his playing days as opposed to Malone’s 1,145. Once upon a time, Nowitzki was so bad on defense that Head Coach Don Nelson had no choice but to bench his young star at certain points of the game. He couldn’t buy a stop so he went back in the offseason and worked vigorously to get better. On this particular night, Dirk’s defense is probably what won the game for his team in a tight 114-112 victory over Carmelo Anthony and the Nuggets. Now, ask yourself when was the last time you heard Dirk’s defense won a game?
Malone was much more prone to get tough in the trenches and attempt to block shots. Unlike Nowitzki, however, Malone did most of his defending and work in the paint and on the low blocks. Malone was tough and very physical. He wanted to wear you down and made sure you knew who you played the night before when you woke up with bruises all over your body. The five times that Malone recorded 5 blocks in a game, his teams finished with a 5-0 record. Whether or not Malone’s defense was the reason for those wins is another story.
Advantage: Dirk Nowitzki
Three-Pointers Made
Dirk Nowitzki – 8 Three-Pointers Made (Mavericks vs. SuperSonics, January 27, 2004)
Karl Malone – 2 Three-Pointers Made (Jazz vs. Trail Blazers, December 28, 1989), (Jazz vs. Nuggets, March 11, 1990), (Jazz vs. Lakers, December 10, 1994), (Jazz vs. Wizards, March 21, 2002)
This is about as lopsided of a category as any in favor of Dirk Nowitzki. Dirk is well known for his superior shooting as a 7-footer with a beautiful high arc on his shots that made them look so pretty going through the net. On a January night back in 2004, Dirk had the best shooting night of his life beyond the arc in a 118-116 victory over Seattle. Dirk Shot 8-11 from three and 16-22 overall to finish the game with 43 points and 4 rebounds. He is still the greatest shooting big man of all time.
Now, Karl Malone could shoot the ball, there is no doubt. His shooting only came from within the three-point area, though. I was shocked to learn that he had even hit 2 three-pointers in a game before, let alone having done it 4 different times. For his career, Malone shot 85-310 from three-point range, good for 27.4% shooting. In contrast, Dirk was a career 38.0% shooter from three, having sunk 1,982 threes in his career.
Advantage: Dirk Nowitzki
Field Goals Made
Dirk Nowitzki – 17 Field Goals Made (Mavericks vs. Suns, December 4, 2008), (Mavericks vs. Thunder, December 13, 2008)
Karl Malone – 22 Field Goals Made (Jazz vs. Hornets, December 22, 1989)
Dirk Nowitzki hit his career-high mark in shots made twice and both times happened within 9 days of each other in 2008. On December 4th, 2008, Dirk sank 17-25 shots against the Phoenix Suns to finish with 39 points and a 112-97 win. 9 days later and again on his home court, Dirk repeated his performance against an abysmal Thunder team that was 2-22 at that point. Dirk hit on 17-30 shots overall and just 2-4 from three to finish with 46 points. The Mavericks would win the game 103-99.
Karl Malone hit on his career-high 22 field goals back in 1989 in a game against the Charlotte Hornets. The Hornets were at home with a 4-18 record while the Jazz started off hot at 15-8. Rex Chapman did everything he could to keep Charlotte in the game with 28 points of his own, but they were no match for Malone and the Jazz. Malone finished 22-28 from the field with 52 points and 17 rebounds in a 114-100 victory. Malone would finish his career with 4 games in which he made 20 or more field goal attempts.
Advantage: Karl Malone
Free Throws Made
Dirk Nowitzki – 21 Free Throws Made (Mavericks vs. Rockets, December 2, 2004)
Karl Malone – 20 Free Throws Made (Jazz vs. Timberwolves, December 17, 1989), (Jazz vs. Warriors, April 13, 1992)
Both of these power forwards had different ways from each other of getting to the foul line. Dirk used a lot of fakes and hard-to-defend jumpers to earn his shots at the charity stripe. During his career-high scoring night, Nowitzki did just that, earning 22 shots at the foul line and connecting on 21 of them for a 95.5% night. He finished the game with 53 points and 16 rebounds in a victory over one of his bitter rivals, the Houston Rockets.
Malone loved to control the paint and, more specifically, the low blocks. He used his large frame and brute strength to seal off defenders and make a move up towards the basket. Whether he used up and under moves or a signature mini-hook shot, Malone forced his way to the foul line nightly. In both of the instances that he connected on 20 free throws, Malone took 24 attempts which were good for 83.3% shooting nights. He had a 34-point night in 1989 against the Timberwolves in a victory and a 42-point outing in 1992 against the Warriors. The game against the Warriors in 1992 was ugly as the Jazz blew them out 138-99. No matter if it was power or finesse, both of these guys made it count when they got to the free throw line.
Advantage: Dirk Nowitzki
Turnovers
Dirk Nowitzki – 8 Turnovers (Mavericks vs. Suns, March 5, 2002)
Karl Malone – 10 Turnovers (Jazz vs. SuperSonics, January 15, 1988), (Jazz vs. Nets, November 27, 1989)
Neither Dirk Nowitzki nor Karl Malone were “turnover-prone” per se when looking at the totality of their career. Much like most NBA players first entering the league, they each faced their own set of growing pains as young stars looking to break through. Dirk’s worst game giving the ball away came in 2002 against the Suns. It wasn’t enough to give the game away as he made up for it in other facets of the game. He ended with 30 points and 20 rebounds in an 81-77 barn burner.
Malone was a bit more turnover friendly than Dirk in his career. He matched or exceeded Dirk’s career-high 8 turnovers 17 different times in his career. Malone tallied a little over 2,000 more turnovers than Nowitzki during their careers. In Malone’s first game with 10 turnovers, they were crushed by Seattle 124-105 behind 39 points from Dale Ellis. In his second game with double-digit giveaways, the Jazz had much better luck, dismantling the Nets 105-68. Malone finished with 22 points and 17 rebounds.
Advantage: Dirk Nowitzki
Who Ranks Higher All-Time Between These Two Legends?
When talking about ranking Dirk Nowitzki and Karl Malone, it all depends on what you value most as to whom ranks higher. If you value offense in the sense of outside shooting and putting points on the board, then you will choose Dirk. If you value dominating within a system with an all-time great point guard, then you will choose Karl Malone. If you value being a much more solid defender and a slightly better playmaker, then you will also choose Karl Malone over Dirk Nowitzki.
However, there is another thing we must take into consideration. Dirk has put a team on his back and taken them to ultimate glory, unlike Karl Malone was able to. Malone had his chances, too. He and John Stockton led the Jazz to the Finals in 1997 and 1998 but fell short thanks to a man named Michael Jordan. Nowitzki, on the other hand, took a group that no one expected to be successful to a championship over the Miami Heat Big 3 of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh. I would hold the latter in much higher regard but, what would you say?
