The Last Dance provided an in-depth look at the opponents and the fierce competition of the 90s. The list is long and some of the notable rivals were Isiah Thomas, Patrick Ewing, Hakeem Olajuwon, John Stockton, and others. But there was only one player who was successful in toppling Michael Jordan for the MVP race during the second three-peat. Even though MJ averaged more points, Karl Malone took away the 1997 MVP trophy.

“The most points scored in 1990s, ” a post on X read, which recently shed light on another accolade that The Mailman had over His Airness. In the 90s, although the Bulls did three-peat twice, Karl Malone ended up with the most points in that decade (21,370). Michael Jordan finished second (18,014) and short of 3,356 points. Interestingly, only 8 players breached the 15,000 scoring mark, but the top stats don’t paint the full picture.

The Utah Jazz legend played a total of 785 games, exactly 200 more than Michael Jordan. In fact, the 6x NBA Champion was after Malone on the games played list with 585. MJ was also top for points per game average with 30.8 and Karl Malone was second with 27.2 and also led the minutes per game category.

Due to retirement the first time, it was obvious that MJ’s number would drop as he finished the decade with 22,445 minutes. Only 13 players in that decade played over 25,000 minutes and Malone was the only one to cross the 30k barrier. If hypothetically, the 6x Finals MVP played a similar number of games, then definitely Michael Jordan could have scored more points.

Averaging 30.8 points per game, the 5x MVP would require only 110 games to take over Karl Malone’s record. So yes, the Jazz legend was performing at peak levels, consistently, but does it mean he was better than MJ? It was also the question during the 1997 MVP race which Jordan lost.

Michael Jordan and Karl Malone’s epic 1997 league MVP clash

“He’s also been on the team that was equally as successful this year. I can’t have any jealousy or animosity towards Karl even though I may had a good season, and certainly, from a stats standpoint it wasn’t my best season. As long as I am consistently thought of an MVP, I’m happy with that,” His Airness stated. Even though Michael Jordan did not hold any grudge, he was statistically better than Karl Malone.

During the 1996-97 season, MJ averaged 29.6 points, 4.3 assists, and 5.9 rebounds per game. Plus, the Bulls had the best record of 69-13, meanwhile, Malone averaged 27.4 points, 4.5 assists, and 9.9 rebounds per game. He helped the Utah Jazz with a 64-18 record. Some reports stated that it was voter fatigue that led Malone to win the 1997 MVP trophy.

Some suggested the previous year’s record helped the scales in favor of the forward, as the Bulls were unable to better their 72-10 record from the previous season. But the Jazz did manage that as they had a 59-23 record in the 1995-96 season. Ultimately, when the two teams clashed for back-to-back finals, it was Michael Jordan who came on top as the Bulls were able to beat the Jazz in the ’97 and ’98 finals. So, even though Malone had the best points scoring for the decade, it was Jordan who had the last laugh.

Stay tuned for more such updates and join us for the exciting second episode of the “Dual Threat Show” as our host BG12 sits down with Georgia Bulldogs star and Mountain West All-Freshman Team Selection, Asia Avinger.