When talking about the most lethal one-two punches in NBA history, it’s impossible to ignore the iconic tandem of John Stockton and Karl Malone. With these two leading the charge for the Utah Jazz, it didn’t matter how suffocating the opposing defense was in the 1980s and ’90s; they always found a way to get their team on the scoreboard.
Their chemistry was unmatched, and for Patrick Ewing, who battled against them in the same era, it was clear that neither Stock nor the ‘Mailman’ would’ve reached the legendary status they did without each other.
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Patrick Ewing knew Karl Malone and John Stockton needed each other
Malone and Stockton’s joint rise to the All-NBA level began in the 1987-88 season. That year, Stockton led the league in assists for the first time (averaging a jaw-dropping 13.8 per game), with most of his passes being tailor-made for Malone, who registered a scoring average of 27.7 points per game.
From then on, Stock led the league in assists for eight consecutive seasons, orchestrating the offense like a maestro. Interestingly, during that same stretch, Malone led the league in free throws for five years consecutively and earned All-NBA First Team honors for 11 straight campaigns – a clear testament to the trust they had developed in each other’s caliber.
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Ewing saw up close how Stockton’s unselfishness and basketball IQ perfectly amplified Malone’s powerful inside scoring. More importantly, what made this tandem even more successful was how John never chased the spotlight during his prime; rather, he led Karl to win two MVP honors in the space of three years, all in his mid-30s.
“Karl, being the brute strength, the force and John – the savvy, the passing, the shooting,” Ewing said in an interview. “Those two were lucky to have had the opportunity to play with each other for so long.”
This Utah Jazz duo was undoubtedly legendary
Together, they transformed the Utah Jazz franchise by guiding it to five Western Conference Finals appearances in seven years and back-to-back NBA Finals appearances in 1997 and 1998. Every team in the West knew that Stockton-to-Malone was coming, yet nobody could contain, let alone stop it.
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So it’s safe to assert that their two-man game was so crisp, so synchronized, that even the best defensive schemes failed. Teams threw everything at them – traps, switches, physicality – but their connection remained untouchable.
It wasn’t just Ewing, but even the legendary Doug Collins once admitted that it was only Stockton who elevated Malone to become one of the greatest forwards of all time.
“One of the reasons he’s such a great running forward is that he plays with a point guard who will always give the ball up,” Collins said about Karl Malone.
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Ultimately, a championship would’ve stamped their solidarity for generations to come. But even without it, those who saw their tandem closely knew that this pair was unlike any the NBA world had ever seen. They weren’t just regular teammates; rather, they were basketball soulmates.
This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Aug 27, 2025, where it first appeared in the Old School section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.