Yeah, I know - go figure, right? No, I hadn't heard of the Karl Malone Award, either.
That's mostly because it's a relatively new award. Created by the Naismith Hall of Fame in 2015, this is only the third season the award will be given. The Karl Malone Award, given to the top power forward, is one of five positional awards give by the Hall of Fame.
The others are the Bob Cousy Award (top point guard), the Jerry West Award (top shooting guard), the Julius Erving Award (top small forward), and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award (top center).