Today, The Grandma has been watching some old NBA matches and she has been remembering how good was Karl Malone, the American former professional basketball player, who was born on a day like today in 1963.
Karl Anthony Malone (born July 24, 1963) is an American former professional basketball player in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed the Mailman, he is considered one of the greatest power forwards in NBA history.
Malone spent his first 18 seasons (1985-2003) in the NBA with the Utah Jazz and formed a formidable duo with his teammate John Stockton. He was a two-time NBA Most Valuable Player, a 14-time NBA All-Star, and a 14-time member of the All-NBA Team, which include 11 consecutive First Team selection. His 36,928 career points scored rank third all-time in NBA history behind LeBron James and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and he holds the records for most free throws made and attempted, and most regular season games started, in addition to being tied for the second-most first-team All-NBA selections with Kobe Bryant, both behind LeBron James.
Malone played college basketball for the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs. In his three seasons, he helped the Bulldogs to their first NCAA tournament in 1984 and to first place in the Southland Conference in 1985. The Utah Jazz selected him in the first round of the 1985 NBA draft with the 13th overall pick. Malone appeared in the playoffs every season in his career, including the NBA Finals in 1997 and 1998 with the Jazz. He played his final season with the Los Angeles Lakers, with whom he played his third Finals in 2004.
Malone also competed with the United States national team in the Summer Olympic Games of 1992 and 1996; in both years he won gold medals. In 1996, as part of the NBA's 50th Anniversary, Malone was honoured as one of the 50 greatest players of all time by being named to the NBA 50th Anniversary Team.
In October 2021, Malone was again honoured as one of the league's greatest players of all time by being named to the NBA 75th Anniversary Team.
After retiring from the NBA, Malone joined the staff of the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs in 2007 and was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2010 twice -for his individual career, and as a member of the 1992 United States men's Olympic basketball team.
Born in Summerfield, Louisiana, Malone was the youngest of nine children and was raised on a farm by his single mother, Shirley.
Although recruited by University of Arkansas basketball coach Eddie Sutton, Malone enrolled at Louisiana Tech University, which was closer to home. He joined the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs basketball team in his second year because his grades were too low for freshman eligibility; Malone played under coach Andy Russo.
In the 1985 NBA draft, the Utah Jazz selected Karl Malone with the 13th overall pick.
By the 1987–88 season, Malone was the foundation of the offense and John Stockton was the floor general. Malone made his first All-Star Game in 1988 on the strength of 27.1 points per game, and made his first All-NBA team at the end of the season. This was the first of 14 consecutive All-Star appearances for Malone.
Malone played in the NBA for one more season, joining the Los Angeles Lakers in an attempt to win a championship.
At a press conference on February 13, 2005, at the Delta Center, Malone officially announced his retirement from the NBA after 19 seasons.
Everything I've been through, everything I'm about to go through in my career and my life, if my family wasn't with me and didn't support me, it would be really tough.
Today, The Grandma has been watching NBA on TV. She is a great fan of Los Angeles Lakers since Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar played with this team. Nowadays, the great star is LeBron James, an amazing player who was born on a day like today in 1984.
Tonight, he has played another great match. LosAngeles Lakers have won against Dallas Mavericks (108-95). During the game, Six Lakers players have scored in double figures led by 23 points and nine rebounds from Anthony Davis.
LeBron James has added 13 points, six rebounds and 13 assists, bringing up his 9,000th career dime along the way.
LeBron Raymone James Sr. (December 30, 1984) is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Often compared for the title of the greatest of all time, like Michael Jordan, his accomplishments include taking two teams to eight consecutive NBA finals appearances (2011-2018), winning three NBA championships, fourNBAMost Valuable Player Awards, three NBA Finals MVP Awards, and twoOlympic gold medals.
James played in fifteen NBA All-Star Games and been named NBA All-Star MVP three times. He won the 2008 NBA scoring title, is the all-time NBA playoffs scoring leader, fourth in all-time career points scored, and ninth in all-time assists. He has been voted onto the All-NBA First Team twelve times and the All-Defensive First Team five times.
James played basketball for St. Vincent–St. Mary High School in his hometown of Akron, Ohio, where he was heavily touted by the national media as a future NBA superstar. A prep-to-pro, he joined the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2003 as the first overall draft pick. Named the 2003–04 NBA Rookie of the Year, he soon established himself as one of the league's premier players; he won the NBA Most Valuable Player Award in 2009 and 2010.
After failing to win a championship with Cleveland, James left in 2010 to sign as
a free agent with the Miami Heat. This move was announced in an ESPN
special titled The Decision, and is one of the most controversial free
agent decisions in American sports history.
Lebron James, Cleveland Cavaliers
James won his first two NBA championships while playing for the Miami Heat in 2012 and 2013; in both of these years, he also earnedleague MVP and Finals MVP. After his fourth season with the Heat in 2014, James opted out of his contract to re-sign with the Cavaliers.
In 2016, he led the Cavaliers to victory over the Golden State Warriors in the NBA Finals, delivering the franchise's first championship and ending Cleveland's 52-year professional sports title drought. In 2018, James opted out of his contract with the Cavaliers to sign with the Lakers.
Off the court, James has accumulated additional wealth and fame from numerous endorsement contracts. His public life has been the subject of much scrutiny, and he has been ranked as one of America's most influential and popular athletes. He has been featured in books, documentaries, and television commercials. He has also hosted the ESPY Awards and Saturday Night Live, and appeared in the 2015 film Trainwreck.
James was born on December 30, 1984 in Akron, Ohio to Gloria Marie James, who was 16 at the time of his birth. His father, Anthony McClelland, has an extensive criminal record and was not involved in his life. When James was growing up, life was often a struggle for the family, as they moved from apartment to apartment in the seedier neighborhoods of Akron while Gloria struggled to find steady work.
Realizing that her son would be better off in a more stable family environment, Gloria allowed him to move in with the family of Frank Walker, a local youth football coach who introduced James to basketball when he was nine years old.
James began playing
organized basketball in the fifth grade. He later played Amateur
Athletic Union (AAU) basketball for the Northeast Ohio Shooting Stars.
The team enjoyed success on a local and national level, led by James and
his friends Sian Cotton, Dru Joyce III, and Willie McGee.
The
group dubbed themselves the Fab Four and promised each other that
they would attend high school together. In a move that stirred local
controversy, they chose to attend St. Vincent–St. Mary High School, a
private Catholic school with predominantly white students.
James
was selected by his hometown team, the Cleveland Cavaliers, as the
first overall pick of the 2003 NBA draft. In his first regular season
game, he scored 25 points against the Sacramento Kings, setting an NBA record for most points scored by a prep-to-pro player in his debut
performance.
Lebron James, Miami Heat
At the conclusion of the season, he became the first Cavalier to receive the NBA Rookie of theYear Award,and with final averages of 20.9 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 5.9 assists per game, he also became just the third player in league history to average at least 20 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists per game as a rookie. Cleveland ultimately finished the season 35–47, failing to make the playoffs despite an 18-game improvement over the previous year.
James earned his first
NBA All-Star Game selection in 2004–05, contributing 13 points, 8
rebounds, and 6 assists in a winning effort for the Eastern Conference.
Around the league, teams took note of his rapid development, with Denver
Nuggets coach George Karl telling Sports Illustrated, It's weird
talking about a 20-year-old kid being a great player, but he is a great
player... He's the exception to almost every rule.
At
the conclusion of the 2008–09 season, James finished second in NBA
Defensive Player of the Year Award voting and made his first NBA
All-Defensive Team, posting 23 chase-down blocks and a career-high 93
total blocks. He also became only the fourth postmerger player to lead
his team in points, rebounds, assists, steals, and blocks in a single
season. Behind his play and the acquisition of All-Star guard Mo
Williams, Cleveland went a franchise record 66–16 and fell just one game
short of matching the best home record in league history. With final
averages of 28.4 points, 7.6 rebounds, 7.2 assists, 1.7 steals, and 1.2
blocks per game, James became the first Cavalier to win the MVP Award.
James became an
unrestricted free agent at 12:01 am EDT on July 1, 2010. During this
time, he was contacted by several teams, including the Bulls, Los
Angeles Clippers, Miami Heat, New York Knicks, New Jersey Nets, and
Cavaliers. On July 8, he announced on a live ESPN special titled The
Decision that he would sign with the Heat.
James
officially signed with the Heat on July 10, 2010. With the move, he
became only the third reigning MVP to change teams and the first since
Moses Malone in 1982.
On
June 25, 2014, James opted out of his contract with the Heat, and on
July 1, he officially became an unrestricted free agent. On July 11, he
revealed via a first-person essay in Sports Illustrated that he intended
to return to the Cavaliers. In contrast to The Decision, his
announcement to return to Cleveland was well received. On July 12, he
officially signed with the team, who had compiled a league-worst 97–215
record in the four seasons following his departure. A month after
James's signing, the Cavaliers acquired Kevin Love from the Minnesota
Timberwolves, forming a new star trio along with Kyrie Irving.
During the 2015–16
season, James was criticized for his role in several off-court
controversies, including the midseason firing of Cavaliers' coach David
Blatt. Despite these distractions, Cleveland finished the year with 57
wins and the best record in the East. James's final averages were 25.3
points, 7.4 rebounds, and 6.8 assists per game on 52 percent shooting.
LeBron James, Los Angeles Lakers
In the playoffs, the Cavaliers advancedcomfortably to the Finals, losing only two games en route to a rematch with the Warriors, who were coming off a record-setting 73-win season.
To begin the series, Cleveland fell behind 3–1, including two blowout losses. James responded by registering back-to-back 41 point games in Games 5 and 6, leading the Cavaliers to two consecutive wins to stave off elimination. In Game 7, he posted a triple-double and made a number of key plays, including The Block on Andre Iguodala, as Cleveland emerged victorious, winning the city's first professional sports title in 52 years and becoming the first team in NBA history to come back from a 3–1 series deficit in the Finals.
James became just the third player to record a triple-double in an NBA Finals Game 7, and behind series averages of 29.7 points, 11.3 rebounds, 8.9 assists, 2.3 blocks, and 2.6 steals per game, he also became the first player in league history to lead both teams in all five statistical categories for a playoff round, culminating in a unanimous Finals MVP selection.
On June 29, 2018, James
opted out of his contract with the Cavaliers and became an unrestricted
free agent. On July 1, his management company, Klutch Sports, announced
that he would sign with the Los Angeles Lakers; the deal was officially
completed on July 9.
James made his debut for the United States national team at the 2004 Olympics in Athens, Greece. He spent the Games mostly on the bench, averaging 14.6 minutes per game with 5.8 points and 2.6 rebounds per game in eight games. Team USA finished the competition with a bronze medal, becoming the first U.S. basketball team to return home without a gold medal since adding active NBA players to their lineup.
At the 2006 FIBA World Championship in Japan, James took on a greater role for Team USA, averaging 13.9 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 4.1 assists per game as co-captain. The team finished the tournament with an 8–1 record, winning another bronze medal.
Before naming James to the 2008 Olympic team, Team USA managing director Jerry Colangelo and coach Mike Krzyzewski gave James an ultimatum to improve his attitude, and he heeded their advice. At the FIBA Americas Championship 2007, he averaged 18.1 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 4.7 assists per game, including a 31-point performance against Argentina in the championship game, the most ever by an American in an Olympic qualifier.
Team USA went 10–0, winning the gold medal and qualifying for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, China. James credited the team's attitude and experience for their improvement, saying: I don't think we understood what it meant to put on a USA uniform and all the people that we were representing in 2004. We definitely know that now. At the Olympics, Team USA went unbeaten, winning their first gold medal since 2000.
James did not play at the 2010 FIBA World Championship but rejoined Team USA for the 2012 Olympics in London, England. He became the leader of the team with Kobe Bryant, who would soon be 34, stepping back. James facilitated the offense from the post and perimeter, called the defensive sets, and provided scoring when needed. During a game against Australia, he recorded the first triple-double in U.S. Olympic basketball history with 11 points, 14 rebounds and 12 assists. Team USA went on to win their second straight gold medal.
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