Karl Malone exuded masculinity and toughness all throughout his illustrious NBA career. By combining his natural strength with skills and an incredible work ethic, Malone gave justice to the power forward position and became one of the greatest players of all time.

However, Malone’s toughness wasn’t rooted in the desire to be the best and most dominant player in the world. Instead, the man in question revealed that it was the byproduct of a series of hardships that he had to experience growing up.

By enduring these challenges at a young age, Malone grew up to be the way he was: tough and unapologetic. He gained the mental and emotional strength to always move on and even become an achiever in both career and life.

“One day, when I am gone, people will ask, ‘What would his book have been about? We never got to know the real Karl Malone…’ Only one chapter in that book would have been on basketball,” Malone told Jazz.com in 2011. “Most of the book would be on growing up hard with four brothers and four sisters. Seeing my own father commit suicide when I was a little boy.”

“See, people don’t know where I come from,” he continued. “What I’ve been through. I’m from a small town of 250. I had every opportunity to fail. I was hunting at age seven to put food on the table. I was working at age 12. But I knew at age five… I was gonna be successful and influence people in a way. Some may see that as being cocky, but oh well. That’s how I felt at age five. I knew I had to suck it up even back then.”

Malone isn’t afraid of death

Among all of Malone’s traumatic experiences, it’s understandable that his father’s suicide hurt him the most. It took Malone 31 years before he finally moved on from it.

At that point, The Mailman realized that his dad failed and chose to escape instead of facing the challenges head on.

“I finally forgave him for taking the easy way out, for leaving us alone. I needed to grow up and turn the page. Once I did that, I was able to enjoy my family in ways I couldn’t have before,” the Hall of Famer added.

Apart from knowing what true happiness is, Malone also learned that failure is more frightening than death. This speaks volumes about why he strived to always be the best version of himself. It also added fuel to his competitive fire both as an athlete and an individual.

“I’ll tell you something about myself most people don’t know,” Karl further reflected. “I’m not afraid to die, but I am afraid to fail.”

Malone found an avenue with basketball

As he carried on in his journey, Malone fell in love with basketball. He quickly broke into the scene as a standout player at Louisiana Tech.

Malone made his presence felt as early as his freshman year by averaging 20.9 points, 10.3 rebounds and 1.9 steals in 28 games. He continued to play at a high level until his junior year and decided to skip his senior year to turn pro in 1985.

Malone was drafted by the Utah Jazz as the 13th overall pick. In the NBA, The Mailman picked up where he left off and established himself as one of the most dominant power forwards of his generation.

In his third year with the Jazz, Malone was already an All-Star player. He went on to become the face of the franchise alongside John Stockton for the next 15 years. Individually, Malone won two MVP awards and finished his career as one of the NBA’s all-time leading scorers with 36,928 points.

Judging by how Malone’s career played out, nobody could have ever said that he had overcome an array of obstacles in life. In retrospect, it’s fascinating to learn that he didn’t succumb to his traumas and fears.