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Karl Malone Retires from The NBA


bigted

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Associated Press

SALT LAKE CITY -- There will be no NBA career scoring record for Karl Malone. No championship ring, either.

The Mailman is retiring, having come up short in his quest for both during his 19-year career.

Malone

Malone, 41, will announce his retirement Sunday, the Jazz said Friday. He will hold a news conference at the Delta Center -- the arena where his 1997 and 1999 league MVP awards are celebrated with signs below the upper deck.

Soon, a giant No. 32 Malone jersey will assuredly hang above the court.

"Even though he never won a championship, he had an outstanding career," said Jerry Sloan, Malone's coach for 15 of his seasons in Utah. "He played a lot of times when he shouldn't have. He did whatever he could to try to win, and I think that kind of thing is overlooked a lot these days in the game of basketball."

NBA All-Time Scorers

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 38,387

Karl Malone 36,928

Michael Jordan 32,292

Wilt Chamberlain 31,419

Malone's agent, Dwight Manley, said Malone was "very serious" about returning to action with the San Antonio Spurs before he decided to retire.

"I can tell you he's given a tremendous amount of thought to this decision, but the specific details are best left to him to make on Sunday," Manley said.

Malone retires with 36,928 points, just 1,459 points behind Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's record 38,387.

He spent all but one of his 19 seasons with the Jazz, signing with the Los Angeles Lakers as a free agent before last season. He made the move so he could make one more run at the ring that eluded him in trips to the NBA finals in 1997 and '98.

Malone: Durable Deliveryman

Minutes 54,852 2nd all-time

Games 1,476 3rd

Rebounds 14,968 6th

Malone made it to the finals again with the Lakers, but came up empty. Detroit beat Los Angeles in five games.

Malone teamed with guard John Stockton for 18 seasons with Utah to form one of the NBA's greatest duos, leading the Jazz to the finals twice but losing to Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls each time.

"He had a great career here and did a terrific job for the Jazz," Sloan said.

Stockton, the NBA's all-time leader in assists and steals, retired in 2003 after 19 seasons, all with the Jazz.

Malone gave it one more year, joining the Lakers at a greatly reduced salary before last season in an attempt to win a title by playing with Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant. He missed 39 games during the regular season after injuring his right knee, and was hurt again during the playoffs. He was limited in Games 3 and 4 against the Pistons and missed Game 5.

"We've had one year with him and everyone in the organization, from the front office staff, fellow players, coaches, everyone really enjoyed having Karl around for that year," Lakers spokesman John Black said. "He was a real addition to our team last year in helping us get to the NBA playoffs."

Malone opted out of his $1.65 million contract after last season, making him a free agent. He and his family live in Newport Beach, Calif. They also have a home in Salt Lake City.

Manley said in October that his client wasn't ready to play but that if he returned, it would only be with the Lakers.

That changed late last year after Malone was accused by Bryant of making a pass at Bryant's wife. Malone, through Manley, denied the accusation and apologized to Bryant and his wife for any remarks she might have considered inappropriate.

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As an NBA fan-atic (more than JJFP, more than anything else in "fandom"), this is huge news for me. Malone's retirement, plus the announcement that this season will be Reggie Miller's last, means the final curtain calls for some of my favorite players I grew up with. Malone was a class act, and, while I'm on the subject, Kobe Bryant is a joker. And so is his wife. A stupid joke between family friends is not a pass at your wife. Certainly not somethin to talk to the press about. Just thought I'd mention this considering it was deemed worthy of mention in his AP retirement article. Gosh.

(that was a rambling and incoherant response :dunno: )

Edited by scyhigh99
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How'd I know it was gonna be bigted postin the topic? :kekeke: Yeah, I saw that on the ESPN bottomline while I was watchin the Cavs and Nuggets. Same deal wit Reggie. All the greats are starting to go, and we're lookin to see whose fillin' those or at least standing beside and carrying their own. LeBron the next MJ? A lot may say yeah, a lot may say no way in this universe. It is something to think about. This is LeBron's second year. How did people react to Jordan's rookie and 2nd year? Was he a don't believe the hype, or truly a star on the rise that we all know today?

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Believe the hype about LeBron. And more. He's the real deal. As is Dwyane Wade. The L is in good hands, my friends.

Carmelo Anthony, on the other hand, is a joker (2nd time I've labeled a player such in the span of 2 posts) and I'm not just saying that as a bandwagon-thing this season. Why did I feel the need to mention that? I don't know.

Oh, and Al Jefferson is UNBELIEVABLY SICK (go celtics!!!)

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:ditto:

If he tries to be like MJ, he will fail terribly, but if he plays his own game he will be one of the greatest

i think every exciting young player will be compared to MJ

Edited by JamesUK
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Lebron is only in his 2nd year in the NBA, it's too early to compare him to Jordan, there could be a whole bunch of players that could be better than Lebron that've yet to come in. Grant Hill, Penny Hardaway, and Vince Carter have been said to be the next Jordan and that wasn't true, but in their prime they were very good players. I don't think that there could be many players that're gonna top what Karl Malone, Scottie Pippen, and Reggie Miller did in their careers either since most players only have a string of 5 years of greatness, it's harder to have 15-20 years of consistancy, gotta give props to Kevin Willis too 'cause he's the only active player left from the '84 draft(which proves how durable he's been) it's the same in hip-hop where it's hard to have longevity like FP, LL, and KRS have, give props to the legends where it's due.

Edited by bigted
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Lebron is only in his 2nd year in the NBA, it's too early to compare him to Jordan, there could be a whole bunch of players that could be better than Lebron that've yet to come in.  Grant Hill, Penny Hardaway, and Vince Carter have been said to be the next Jordan and that wasn't true, but in their prime they were very good players. I don't think that there could be many players that're gonna top what Karl Malone, Scottie Pippen, and Reggie Miller did in their careers either since most  players only have a string of 5 years of greatness, it's harder to have 15-20 years of consistancy, gotta give props to Kevin Willis too 'cause he's the only active player left from the '84 draft(which proves how durable he's been) it's the same in hip-hop where it's hard to have longevity like FP, LL, and KRS have, give props to the legends where it's due.

In my opinion, G-Hill & Penny really would have been some of the greatest ever if their bodies hadn't let them down, but Vinsanity never belonged in that grouping. I know he got the "next MJ" label too but he was the most ludicris choice for that designation-- he's a slasher/dunker and whatnot, but he's not in that elite group of all-round real-deals.

And of course LeBron isn't gonna be the next MJ. Nobody is ever the next anybody, if that makes sense. LeBron will be LeBron-- how great that legend ends up being remains to be seen, but what we've seen so far is a phenomenal basketball player who has combined the greatest attributes of a young Jordan and a young Magic... we'll see where that takes him, but there's no reason to believe that-- if he's healthy-- Bron won't be one of the greatest, or the greatest, ever. Kid just knows how to play the game the right way...

Last but not least: BigTed, thanks for givin K-Willis some props. That guy is unbelievable. There are players in the L now who coujld easily be his son.

Edited by scyhigh99
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I think 3cookies said that she's friends with Kevin Willis. I think that there are probably the same amount of superstars now as there was 10-15 years ago, but it's hard to find many role players now that do the dirty work to help the team win that don't go on the stat sheet like Kevin Willis has done in his entire career, like what Charles Oakley and Horace Grant did in their careers, more players today are worried over their contracts and their stats so they don't play team basketball, and I think those days of a point guard passing the ball more than he shoots are probably over, I don't think we'll see young point guards do what players like John Stockton and Mark Jackson did to get teammates involved.

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I think 3cookies said that she's friends with Kevin Willis. I think that there are probably the same amount of superstars now as there was 10-15 years ago, but it's hard to find many role players now that do the dirty work to help the team win that don't go on the stat sheet like Kevin Willis has done in his entire career, like what Charles Oakley and Horace Grant did in their careers, more players today are worried over their contracts and their stats so they don't play team basketball, and I think those days of a point guard passing the ball more than he shoots are probably over, I don't think we'll see young point guards do what players like John Stockton and Mark Jackson did to get teammates involved.

There's a light @ the end of the tunnel w/ the me-first PG's, tho. People are finally realizing that a guy like Steve Nash gets it done better than a guy like Steve Francis. I know there aren't a ton of young PG's who are old-school offensive quarterbacks, but there are a few and hopefully this trend continues-- I especially heard great things about Shaun Livingston, the Clips rook, altho I didn't get to see him this season before he got injured. And thank God for guys like Bron & Dwyane, who are of a whole different breed from your T-Macs and Kobes (and Carmelos). Bron & Flash are guys who play the all-round, TEAM game, and know how to get everyone involved. This "team thing" really is startin to catch on again (down with offenses that setup 1-on-1 isos for their all-star while everyone sits back to watch him go 8-27 and score a couple sportscenter highlights!! thats horrible bball)! Check out the move-w/out-the-ball MoTown offense & tuff team D, the Euro-style-3-pt-extravaganza stuff goin on in Seattle, the fast-break-everyones-in-on-the-fun craziness in Phoenix, or the-always-called-dull-but-not-if-ur-a-bball-purist beautiful-basketball bein played in San Anton. As for role players, they still exist, contrary to wut the expansion-and-big-contract-dwelling-on pundits may say! Check out what Udonis Haslem is doin down in Miami-- he's the new Horace!!

(excessive use of the dash? :rock: )

Edited by scyhigh99
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