Mailman Remembers

More Karl Malone. I know, it’s overkill. There has been more MailNews that you probably wanted to read in the paper this week.

Still, now that he’s in the Hall of Fame, how many more stories will I be doing on him?

May as well empty the notebook.

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Three weeks ago, Malone told me when he left the Jazz, he did it to win a title. But he also admitted he knew the Jazz wanted to move ahead and couldn’t do so easily with him still around. That’s a pretty big admission for a Hall of Famer.

I’ve always maintained the same. Malone wasn’t disloyal by leaving. The Jazz gave him a respectable but relatively low contract offer. He took less so he could play in L.A. It worked out OK for both the team — which was able to move ahead — and Malone, who got his try at a championship. It wasn’t simply a case of Malone bailing out on the Jazz.

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Asked f the game had changed, he Malone said it had.
“This (Jazz) team genuinely was honored that (fans would) come to see us night in and night out…but now a lot of players, (it’s) ‘You should be honored to be in my presence. Oh, and by the way, I’m gonna play tonight. Oh, changed my mind, ’cause I’m hurt.’”
He continued, “I was watching a Jazz game one time and the fans was booing and, well, they had a right to boo. There were times when we played and just stunk it up, you know, and they booed. Hey…you gotta take that as well.”

Asked if there is as much personality as when he played, Malone continued, “You can’t teach personality. You just can’t. Some got it, some don’t. Some do it when the cameras come on and people see through that, so there’s no connection, so to speak.

“There’s not a lot of genuine personality for the everyday working person.”