What basketball legend mentioned in The last season: A team in search of its soul is tied with Karl Malone for the most first team All-NB elections in history.
Karl Malone Karl Anthony Malone (born July 24, 1963) is an American retired professional basketball player. Nicknamed "The Mailman", Malone played the power forward position and spent his first 18 seasons (1985–2003) in the National Basketball Association (NBA) with the Utah Jazz and formed a formidable duo with his teammate John Stockton. Malone also played one season for the Los Angeles Lakers. Malone was a two-time NBA Most Valuable Player, a 14-time NBA All-Star, and an 11-time member of the All-NBA first team. He scored the second most career points in NBA history (36,928) (second behind Kareem Abdul-Jabbar), and holds the records for most free throws attempted and made, in addition to co-holding the record for the most first team All-NBA elections in history (tied with Kobe Bryant and LeBron James). He is considered one of the best power forwards in NBA history.
1996–97 Chicago Bulls season The 1996–97 NBA season was the Bulls' 31st season in the National Basketball Association. During the offseason, the Bulls signed free agent Robert Parish, who won championships with the Boston Celtics in the 1980s. The Bulls, on the backs of recording another first-place finish in their division and conference, repeated as NBA champions. The Bulls were led by Michael Jordan, rebound ace Dennis Rodman and perennial All-Star small forward Scottie Pippen, with the latter two (Jordan and Pippen) both being selected for the 1997 NBA All-Star Game. Other notable players on the club's roster that year were clutch-specialist Croatian Toni Kukoč, and sharp-shooting point guard Steve Kerr.