Karl Malone is a retired professional basketball player. Malone played college basketball at Louisiana Tech University. In his three seasons with Louisiana Tech, he helped the Bulldogs basketball team to its first-ever NCAA tournament in 1984 and to first place in the Southland Conference in 1985.

The Utah Jazz selected him in the first round of the 1985 NBA draft with the 13th overall pick. Malone appeared in the playoffs every season in his career, including the NBA Finals in 1997 and 1998 with the Jazz. He played his final season with the Los Angeles Lakers, with whom he played his third Finals in 2004.He is considered one of the greatest power forwards in NBA history. Malone spent his first 18 seasons with the Utah Jazz, and formed a formidable duo with his teammate John Stockton. He is a two-time MVP, a 14-time All-Star, and an 11-time member of the All-NBA first team. As of 2021, his 36,928 career points scored rank second all-time behind Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and he holds the records for most free throws attempted and made, in addition to being tied for the second-most first-team All-NBA selections with Kobe Bryant and behind LeBron James. 

Malone also won gold medals with the United States national team in the Summer Olympic Games of 1992 and 1996. After retiring from the NBA, Malone joined the staff of the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs basketball team in 2007 and was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2010 twice.