On Oct. 25, 1985, Utah Jazz legend Karl Malone made his NBA debut.
The No. 13 pick in the 1985 NBA Draft, Malone came off the bench in his debut, putting up eight points, six rebounds, four steals and two assists on 4-for-11 shooting from the field in 24 minutes of play. Malone also committed four turnovers, as well as four fouls.
It came in a losing effort, as John Lucas (21 points), Hakeem Olajuwon (27 points, 11 rebounds) and Ralph Sampson (24 points, 14 rebounds) led the Houston Rockets to a 112-108 victory over the Jazz.
OTD (85) Karl Malone made his NBA debut with the @utahjazz
— Ballislife.com (@Ballislife) October 25, 2019
The Mailman played 82 games in 9 of his 19 seasons. He played 80+ games in 15 seasons. pic.twitter.com/YQhgYings1
Malone finished his rookie season averaging 14.9 points, 8.9 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 1.3 steals over 81 games, 76 of which he started in. He finished third in Rookie of the Year voting behind Patrick Ewing and Xavier McDaniel.
Malone would go on to have a Hall of Fame career that saw him become a 14-time All-Star, 14-time All-NBA selection, four-time All-Defensive selection and two-time MVP. He ranks second on the NBA's all-time scoring list with 36,928 career points. He also ranks sixth all-time in games played (1,476), second in minutes played (54,852), second in field goals made (13,528), eighth in rebounds (14,968) and first in free throws made (9,787).
In 2010, Malone was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
Also on Oct. 25...
- 1948: Eight-time All-Star Dave Cowens was born in Newport, Kentucky
- 1985: Six-time All-Star Joe Dumars made his NBA debut
- 1985: Two-time All-Star Terry Porter made his NBA debut
- 2013: Eight-time All-Star and Hall of Famer Bill Sharman died at the age of 87
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