NBA · Career head-to-head

Dirk NowitzkivsKarl Malone

Regular-season careers from the StatVault encyclopedia — the same tables as each player's profile.

Dirk Nowitzki

1999–2019 · 21 seasons

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PF · VAL group F

Karl Malone

1986–2004 · 19 seasons

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At a glance

Dirk Nowitzki and Karl Malone: seasons, VAL, honors and league-leading seasons
Dirk Nowitzki	Stat	Karl Malone
21	Seasons	19
203.6	Career VAL	241.3
18.1 (2005)	Peak-season VAL	20.4 (1997)
Inducted 2023	Hall of Fame	Inducted 2010
0	Black ink (league-leading seasons)	0
15	Gray ink (top-10 finishes)	2

VAL is Value Above League — regular-season production measured against the league at the same position group (NBA VAL board). Black and gray ink count seasons from 2002 on.

Career regular season

Career regular-season statistics both Dirk Nowitzki and Karl Malone have
Dirk Nowitzki	Stat	Karl Malone
Career
1,521	Games	1,476
Per game
20.7	Points / game	25.0
7.6	Rebounds / game	10.1
2.4	Assists / game	3.6

1 stat not compared

Points, Rebounds, Assists, Steals, Blocks, 3-pointers made, FG %, 3P %, FT %, True shooting %, PER, Win shares — Dirk Nowitzki's career line covers 2002–2019 only (the table behind it does not cover 3 early-career seasons); Karl Malone's career line covers 2002–2004 only (the table behind it does not cover 16 early-career seasons).

VAL by ageEach season plotted at the player's age that season, so careers line up by age rather than by calendar.

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Age	Dirk Nowitzki	Karl Malone
20	0.2	—
21	7.3	—
22	11.4	2.2
23	12.4	5.4
24	17.8	9.8
25	8.8	13
26	18.1	18.1
27	17.9	13.1
28	18.1	13.1
29	14	16.1
30	11.7	10.9
31	13.5	16.1
32	13.2	14.4
33	8.3	20.4
34	4.8	17.6
35	11.8	9.3
36	5.8	16
37	4.3	15.9
38	1.6	12
39	2.6	13.4
40	0	4.5