No Malone for LA

[duncan2k5]

he wont be good on the spurs. he will break the team chemistry. i assure you. it it aint broke, dont fix it. we got somethin good goin here and i dont wanna add a pinch of salt to the mix to spoil the pot. look what happened to the lakers last year. a little bump and grind and he is on the injured list. what makes you think he will be any better this year? all of our main compe ion are fast and agile big men. he cant guard them on a bum knee playing half a season. plus he IS evil. he did so many dirty things i dont know why any spurs fan would want him on our team. i remember last year when he elbowed timmy after grabbing a rebound. you just dont DO those kind of things. i love my spurs team now, but after adding malone, the love wont be the same. it will be live Bush forgiving osama and inviting him to be a U.S. citizen. i just cant see it (im sorry if my example offends anyone).

[BronxCowboy]

Bottom line . . . Spurs don't need the . Spurs have as good a shot as anyone to win the championship with the players they have RIGHT NOW. Even if Dallas or Minnesota brings in Evil, it doesn't make a difference. So the choice is between the Spurs contending for the le with a group of decent guys, or contending for the le with a dirty-ass big-head drama queen piggybacking. What is the debate about?
Besides, call me biased, but giving Evil another shot at a ring by parasitizing the Spurs is blasphemy.

[CosmicCowboy]

Malone done with Lakers

NBA: Bryant's comments make it clear he isn't welcome in LA anymore, the veteran forward says.

02:08 AM PST on Wednesday, December 8, 2004

By BRODERICK TURNER / The Press-Enterprise

Karl Malone, sounding calm and relaxed during a 30-minute telephone interview Tuesday night, said he won't play again for the Lakers because of comments Kobe Bryant made during a radio interview.

Malone said initially he was "furious" when he was told of Bryant's comments and that he felt "betrayed" because he stood up for Bryant over the past year throughout his felony sexual assault case.

Malone said other personal attacks by Bryant in private and the damaging radio remarks left Malone believing Bryant doesn't want him as a teammate.

Malone, a power forward who was at his El Dorado, Ark., ranch, said the right knee he had surgery on is fine and that he might play again this season.

His agent, Dwight Manley, told Malone about Bryant's comments.

"Is there any way I can come back and play for the Lakers?" Malone asked. "You gave a person 100 perc

ent control of an organization - 100! - and that person don't want you there. How can it be a way for me to be back there? How can it be a way for me to play for the Lakers?

"When a star don't want you on a team, I can take a hint. Ain't that what his article said? I only want to be where, 'A,' I want to be, and 'B,' where someone wants me to be. No more, no less. He said the same thing to Shaq (O'Neal). He just said it a different way. He said the same thing to Phil (Jackson). He just said it in a different way. I can handle it, because I am who I am.

"I told (Lakers owner) Dr. (Jerry) Buss that I wouldn't play with nobody but the Lakers. I didn't see any of this. I wish them the best. Whether I play or not, I wish them the best. And I was seriously, seriously considering coming back."

Bryant told XTRA Monday his "intuition" was that Malone, the NBA's second-leading career scorer, wouldn't play for the Lakers. Bryant said it wasn't fair to the other Lakers and for them to be "wondering if he's going to come back and then their minutes are going to disappear."

Bryant said his teammates were giving "me 110 percent. It's really not fair for us to sit around and speculate how long this is going to go on ... This is not fair to the guys that are working here."

Malone said he wasn't upset at Bryant because "I know who I am. I don't need security."

"I'm not furious. I'm past that," Malone said. "But I'll tell you what I am. I'm real. I'm a real brother. I don't turn it on when the camera comes on."

Malone said Bryant didn't want O'Neal and Jackson on the Lakers and that's why O'Neal was traded to Miami and Jackson's contract was not renewed. Malone, 41, said Bryant ended it all.

"You told me you didn't want me on your team - ON YOUR TEAM! - I get the message loud and clear," Malone said. "And that ain't from my agent. That's from me."

Malone said he has fielded calls from the San Antonio Spurs, Miami Heat, Dallas Mavericks and Minnesota Timberwolves. Malone wouldn't say which team he'd prefer to play for, but the Spurs appear to be the leading candidate.

He said his knee is just about 100 percent and that he'll be ready to play in a "couple of weeks max."

Malone said he did tell Buss that he would only play for the Lakers if he returned. Malone said Manley was asked in a radio interview Tuesday if Malone was taking the easy way out.

"What did I just get handed to me?" Malone said. "So I didn't have to make that decision."

Malone said he befriended Bryant and stood by him through his personal trouble.

"Who's had Kobe Bryant's back?" Malone said. "What did he do for me?"

Malone referred to Bryant talking to the police in Eagle, Colo., when the police released a transcript from Bryant saying that O'Neal has paid women hush money after having sex.

"I will never, never, rat a man out," Malone said. "You hear me? I will never. I will lose everything I've got before I rat another man out."

The Lakers released a statement Tuesday night, saying that Bryant's interview "reflected his personal opinion" on Malone and that Bryant didn't say that Malone "was not returning, nor was Kobe speaking on behalf of the Lakers management or organization."

"I understand what they are doing," Malone said. "I didn't make the statement. But now you see what is happening. Who can tell Kobe Bryant to shut up? They gave him that power. ... You turn your franchise over to one man and that one man don't like you ... I have respect for so many of those brothers on that team that I would have loved - absolutely loved - to have played with them. But I have to do what I have to do, and it's unfortunate."

[CosmicCowboy]

ESPN.com news services

LOS ANGELES -- Karl Malone has apparently ruled out a return to the Los Angeles Lakers because of comments made by Kobe Bryant in a radio interview, Malone's agent said Tuesday.

"Karl is furious," agent Dwight Manley told The Associated Press. "He felt very disrespected and betrayed after personally being the first to stand up for Kobe over the last year throughout his rape charge and all he went through."

"Who's had Kobe Bryant's back?" Malone said to The (Riverside, Calif.) Press-Enterprise. "What did he do for me?"

Manley said remarks made by Bryant on Monday, coupled with what the agent called "recent personal attacks made in private," led Malone to his decision.

Asked if Malone might play elsewhere, Manley replied: "This certainly opens up that possibility."

Manley first told radio station KMPC of Malone's decision.

Malone said later Tuesday that he would rather not use "those strong words on saying I'm not coming back."

"I wish them the best," he told The Press-Enterprise. "Whether I play or not, I wish them the best. And I was seriously, seriously considering coming back."

"I didn't come to take anybody's glory, anybody's accolades, anybody's anything," Malone told KCBS-TV in a telephone interview. "But if it seems to me that that is what I'm doing, then I would rather move on and turn the page in my life.

"If that's your star player, you want him to want you on the team, right? I don't want to be anybody's distraction."

"Is there any way I can come back and play for the Lakers?" Malone told the newspaper. "You gave a person 100 percent control of an organization -- 100! -- and that person don't want you there. ... How can it be a way for me to play for the Lakers?"

ESPN.com reported in August that Malone had informed new Lakers coach Rudy Tomjanovich that, if he plays a 20th season, he would only sign with the Lakers. Malone and Manley later had lunch with Lakers owner Jerry Buss on the eve of training camp to let Buss know that Malone wouldn't sign with another team.

But San Antonio and Minnesota continue to check in regularly with Malone, according to league sources, promising to save a roster spot for him.

Bryant told XTRA on Monday he didn't believe Malone, who is recovering from knee surgery, would come back to the Lakers, calling it "just intuition."

"It's not really fair to hold it over the guys' heads that are here," Bryant said. "The guys that we have here are working hard, practicing hard every day. It's kind of tough for them to be looking over their shoulder, wondering if he's going to come back and then everybody is going to disappear.

"They are here giving me 110 percent. It's really not fair for us to sit around and speculate how long this is going to go on. I mean, you can't sit up here and speculate for the remainder of the season whether or not he is going to come back. I mean, that's not fair to the guys that are working here."

“ It's not about the Lakers, I love the Lakers. It's about your main guy saying he doesn't want me. I'm a big enough man to understand that, so I'm going to get on with my life, and I've got a great life. ”
— Karl Malone

Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak said in a statement he hoped Manley's comments did not accurately reflect Malone's feelings about returning to the Lakers.

"If so, it is unfortunate that he would make such a decision based on the reason given," the statement added. "Kobe Bryant's interview ... merely reflected his personal opinion that Karl would probably not return to play this season. Kobe did not at any time state that Karl was not returning, nor was Kobe speaking on behalf of the Lakers management or organization."

Malone, 41, told the Lakers on Oct. 1 he was still recovering from arthroscopic surgery he underwent three months earlier on his right knee and wasn't ready to play. But he didn't rule out returning at some point this season or beyond. He did turn down a consulting job offered to him in October by Buss, however.

Manley and Kupchak had dinner Friday before the Lakers game, and progress had been made with regard to Malone's future with the team, Manley told the Los Angeles Times.

"This is a pretty emotional, traumatic thing," he said. "We were really working toward doing a deal with the Lakers that was really moving in an off-court capacity and potential on-court capacity. All those discussions have stopped at Karl's direction."

"It's not about the Lakers, I love the Lakers," Malone told the Times. "It's about your main guy saying he doesn't want me. I'm a big enough man to understand that, so I'm going to get on with my life, and I've got a great life."

He told The Press-Enterprise that Bryant had too much power for Malone to be comfortable with the team if the younger player didn't want him there.

"Who can tell Kobe Bryant to shut up?" Malone said. "They gave him that power. ... You turn your franchise over to one man and that one man don't like you ... I have respect for so many of those brothers on that team that I would have loved -- absolutely loved -- to have played with them. But I have to do what I have to do, and it's unfortunate."

Malone, the second-leading scorer in NBA history, opted out of his $1.65 million contract following last season, making him a free agent.

After playing 18 seasons for the Utah Jazz, Malone joined the Lakers before last season in search of his first championship. He took a pay cut of about $18 million to sign for $1.5 million.

"Karl sacrificed financially to come to L.A., he sacrificed personally," Manley said. "He put his name and reputation on the line, put his arm around Kobe and said he was a good kid, tried to be his friend, told people to give him the benefit of the doubt.

"And now, basically, to get stabbed in the back, that's how he feels. This has ended any possibility of Karl returning to the Lakers in any capacity."

Malone and Bryant live about six blocks apart in Newport Beach.

Manley said his client is fully recovered from knee surgery and 100 percent physically.

"Karl will have something to say, probably in the next month or so, about his future," Manley said. "It will likely be after the first of the year. I'm personally crossing my fingers that he decides to play."

Several teams, including at least San Antonio, Minnesota, Dallas and Miami, expressed interest in Malone during the offseason. He wouldn't say which team he'd prefer, but The Press-Enterprise reported that the Spurs appear to be the leading candidate.

While with the Lakers, Malone was one of the few players who was close with both Bryant and O'Neal. Bryant signed a $136.4 million contract last summer to remain with the Lakers while O'Neal was traded to Miami.

Malone told The Press-Enterprise he believed that Bryant's wish not to have O'Neal and coach Phil Jackson with the Lakers was behind O'Neal's being traded to Miami and Jackson's contract not being renewed.

"You [Bryant] told me you didn't want me on your team -- on your team! -- I get the message loud and clear," Malone told the newspaper. "And that ain't from my agent. That's from me."

Malone played in 1,434 of a possible 1,444 regular-season games with the Jazz, but missed 40 games with the Lakers -- 39 after tearing a knee ligament Dec. 21 against Phoenix.

He returned in March and played a key role as the Lakers reached the NBA Finals before losing to the Detroit Pistons in five games.

Malone reinjured his knee in Game 2 of the finals, was limited in Games 3 and 4 and didn't play in Game 5. The Lakers lost the last three games.

Malone had played in 193 straight playoff games with the Jazz and Lakers before having to sit out the last game of the finals.

Considered one of the best power forwards in NBA history, Malone averaged a career-low 13.2 points and 8.7 rebounds in 42 games last season, leaving him with career averages of 25.0 points and 10.1 rebounds.

His 36,928 points in 1,476 games trails only Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who finished his career with 38,387 points in 1,560 games.

[Spurminator]

I'd take him, but my god what a little ... I'd hate to see what his reaction would be if Pop told him he missed a defensive rotation.

[spurs_fan_in_exile]

As much as I hate the bas , I say pick him up and give him Massenburg's minutes. Or maybe Horry's very limited ones. There's really no need to with the chemistry right now, but if nothing else Malone was the last guy I ever saw really throw Tim Duncan off his game and this would get him off the market. And they should put some clause in the contract that every last Spur whom Malone caught with those dirty ass elbows of his gets to elbow him in the skull as hard as they can.

[ducks]

how old is the espn artice?

I wonder if they are using old info on spurs saving a roster spot for him.

[CosmicCowboy]

espn article was posted yesterday

[Manu20]

I say sign him.....But he should not wait that long because Pop defensive system is a bit hard to learn.(Ask Barry)

[boutons]

Malone, the Spurs owe him nothing, the dirty bas .

Spurs are on a roll. Malone would add nothing but disruption in chemistry, minutes, etc, etc.

Activate 11-years younger, faithful, patient, good-guy Sean Marks, he's got to be better than Klutzenberg.

[emveepee]

I think the Mail Man will be a great fit for the Spurs. As great as Timmy already is, he can still learn a lot from Karl.

Learning is FUNdamental !

[Sec24Row7]

Karl Malone and his Lumber Company owning ass.

[spurs_fan_in_exile]

Wow, everyone's got an opinion. Mine is that the spurs should pick him and give him Massenburg's minutes. I don't see how that's going to really screw up the chemistry of the spurs and if he looks good enough while doing it they can see about increasing his minutes. If nothing else, he's the only guy I ever saw seriously throw Tim off his game in the playoffs-even if half of it was pretty dirty play. Even if he just warms the bench he won't be covering Duncan and that worth something. And the simple fact that he's talking to the spurs says a lot about where his ego is. Yes, he's strictly in it for the ring but he's got to know Pop's reputation, and I have to believe that Pop will have no problem telling him exactly what his place is.
If we do sign him I think there should be two clauses in the contract:
1) Every spur that he has hit with a dirty elbow in the last twenty years gets to hit him with one while his hands are tied behind his back.
2) Halftime at the SBC center: "Ladies and gentlemen, welcome the newest spurs silver dancer-Karlie Malone!"

[ducks]

spurs should sign him and not play him and put him on the ir
that way another team can not use him to hurt duncan

[Kori Ellis]

Today Kobe apologized. So they'll probably kiss and make up now.

[Useruser666]

Here's what Kobe said. LA Times

"I am really and truly sorry for what I did the other day. I know now that it wasn't consentual to herrr...errrr Karl. Again, I'm sorry."

[ShoogarBear]

If I wuz Karl, I'd specify exactly where Kobes has to kiss.

[timvp]

Isn't that how Kobe got in trouble?

[ShoogarBear]

No prob, as this time everyone knows in advance that the second party is a ho.

[rr2418]

I think all you people who want Malone are forgetting the chemistry the Spurs have build already. Before the season, I hoped the Spurs would get Malone, but not anymore. As far as Rasho, Malik,and Massenburg, they may not be better than Malone, but the Spurs don't depend on just one man, these three are pieces of a puzzle that help the Spurs have the best defense in the league.

[2centsworth]

I want Malone so he can go upside KG's stupid head.

[ChumpDumper]

It's either sign Malone or pray he gets injured before he has a chance to help a team own us again.

[Slomo]

"When a star don't want you on a team, I can take a hint. Ain't that what his article said? I only want to be where, 'A,' I want to be, and 'B,' where someone wants me to be. No more, no less. He said the same thing to Shaq (O'Neal). He just said it a different way. He said the same thing to Phil (Jackson). He just said it in a different way. I can handle it, because I am who I am.

Malone said he wasn't upset at Bryant because "I know who I am. I don't need security."

"I'm not furious. I'm past that," Malone said. "But I'll tell you what I am. I'm real. I'm a real brother. I don't turn it on when the camera comes on."


"I will never, never, rat a man out," Malone said. "You hear me? I will never. I will lose everything I've got before I rat another man out."

Who is he trying to convince? Himself?
Primadonna

[timvp]

It's either sign Malone or pray he gets injured before he has a chance to help a team own us again.

Well if a gimpy 50-year-old bandwagon jumping can beat the Spurs all by himself, the Spurs don't deserve to win it all.

[ChumpDumper]

Key word being "help."