NBA · Career head-to-head

Karl MalonevsDirk Nowitzki

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

PF · VAL group F

Karl Malone

1986–2004 · 19 seasons

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Dirk Nowitzki

1999–2019 · 21 seasons

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At a glance

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

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

1 stat not compared

Points, Rebounds, Assists, Steals, Blocks, 3-pointers made, FG %, 3P %, FT %, True shooting %, PER, Win shares — Karl Malone's career line covers 2002–2004 only (the table behind it does not cover 16 early-career seasons); Dirk Nowitzki's career line covers 2002–2019 only (the table behind it does not cover 3 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	Karl Malone	Dirk Nowitzki
20	—	0.2
21	—	7.3
22	2.2	11.4
23	5.4	12.4
24	9.8	17.8
25	13	8.8
26	18.1	18.1
27	13.1	17.9
28	13.1	18.1
29	16.1	14
30	10.9	11.7
31	16.1	13.5
32	14.4	13.2
33	20.4	8.3
34	17.6	4.8
35	9.3	11.8
36	16	5.8
37	15.9	4.3
38	12	1.6
39	13.4	2.6
40	4.5	0