Showdown: Charles Barkley vs. Karl Malone

The tale of the tape for two legendary power forwards.

A few weeks ago, I took a close look at John Stockton and Isiah Thomas. Today, I’m going to put two all-time great power forwards who were teammates on the 1992 “Dream Team” — Charles Barkley and Karl Malone — under the microscope.

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I. Awards and Honors

Let’s take a look at the qualitative information first:

• Both players are in the Hall of Fame.

• Malone was a 14-time All-NBA selection (11 First Team, two Second Team, one Third Team) while Barkley was named to 11 All-NBA teams (five First Team, five Second Team, one Third Team).

• Malone was selected to the All-Defensive team four times (three First Team, one Second Team). Barkley never received this honor.

• Malone received MVP votes in 15 different seasons, winning the award twice (1996-97 and 1998-99). Barkley earned MVP consideration in 12 different seasons, winning once (1992-93).

• Malone was selected to play in 14 All-Star Games, Barkley 11.

• Malone was named All-Star MVP two times, Barkley once.

• Malone played in three NBA Finals, losing the first two to the Chicago Bulls and the last one to the Detroit Pistons. Barkley played in one NBA Finals, also losing to the Bulls.

I think the qualitative evidence clearly comes out in favor of Malone.

Now it’s time to dig into the numbers.