RealGM

When did Malone actually peak in your opinion?

He was one of those very rare players who probably improved after turning 30, and he was becoming more and more refined in terms of his offensive game, using angles and strength to create good looks for himself, so I think 1998 is likely, and it's most commonly accepted as his peak here at RealGM, but I'd say 1992 also has a strong case, because of his outstanding playoff performance (and it's very noteworthy because Malone so often struggled to sustain his regular season level of efficiency in the playoffs - well, he certainly did in '92).

Quotatious wrote:He was one of those very rare players who probably improved after turning 30, and he was becoming more and more refined in terms of his offensive game, using angles and strength to create good looks for himself, so I think 1998 is likely, and it's most commonly accepted as his peak here at RealGM, but I'd say 1992 also has a strong case, because of his outstanding playoff performance (and it's very noteworthy because Malone so often struggled to sustain his regular season level of efficiency in the playoffs - well, he certainly did in '92).

Good post. I was just wondering, because in the other thread (Top3 Peak PF), almost everyone used 1990 as his peak.
I was actuallly very surprised by this, since I never thought this to be one of his very best seasons.
Guess people these days just wander over to bball ref, look at highest PER, TS and raw averages and then state it as his peak.

92 is a very good mention. I believe this to be his peak, since I weigh PS very heavily.

97 and 98 immediately come to mind too.

I will add a poll.

He was more sophisticated/had added more to his game by the mid 90s. But he was an unparalled physical force in the late 80s/90s. Just ran people right out of the gym. And 1990 is the outlier there because he suddenly had this enormously efficient year. You score 30ppg on 56% shooting...well that's all time stuff.

I encountered the same problem trying to figure out Barkley's best year. By his MVP year he was a second PG, a monster leader etc. But in the late 80s he was just so physically overwhelming, and yes would have been today. Just ferocious and overwhelming and with fully intact mega hops allowing him to block shots despite being only 6'6", so I went with it.

Winsome Gerbil wrote:He was more sophisticated/had added more to his game by the mid 90s. But he was an unparalled physical force in the late 80s/90s. Just ran people right out of the gym. And 1990 is the outlier there because he suddenly had this enormously efficient year. You score 30ppg on 56% shooting...well that's all time stuff.

I encountered the same problem trying to figure out Barkley's best year. By his MVP year he was a second PG, a monster leader etc. But in the late 80s he was just so physically overwhelming, and yes would have been today. Just ferocious and overwhelming and with fully intact mega hops allowing him to block shots despite being only 6'6", so I went with it.

So you also consider 88 Jordan his peak?

Malone (and Stockton) were hurt by having extremely limited supporting casts during what (by age) you'd expect to be their primes. The rest of their team was finally solid (not great but good) in the mid-late '90s giving them more team success (and some more efficiency by pulling some defensive attention away) when they were really declining (very slowly).

RebelWithACause wrote:

Winsome Gerbil wrote:He was more sophisticated/had added more to his game by the mid 90s. But he was an unparalled physical force in the late 80s/90s. Just ran people right out of the gym. And 1990 is the outlier there because he suddenly had this enormously efficient year. You score 30ppg on 56% shooting...well that's all time stuff.

I encountered the same problem trying to figure out Barkley's best year. By his MVP year he was a second PG, a monster leader etc. But in the late 80s he was just so physically overwhelming, and yes would have been today. Just ferocious and overwhelming and with fully intact mega hops allowing him to block shots despite being only 6'6", so I went with it.

So you also consider 88 Jordan his peak?

Probably '90, but I have never really considered the question before.

She was 13 Karl.

aal04 wrote:She was 13 Karl.

what does that accomplish?

Difficult to say. He was a force from '90-'92, but probably between '94-'98. I've considered '98 to be his peak for a while, but he had an exceptionally long prime. Maybe the longest of any great possibly only rivaled by Kareem.