TUPATALK: Jazz player never mailed it in
A few days ago LeBron James surpassed Kareem Adbul-Jabbar as the NBA's all-time career leading scorer.
My mind immediately radiated to Karl Malone.
As many of you know, Malone is No. 3 on the all-time points list.
He finished his career with 36,928 points, trailing Kareem (38,387) by just 1459.
I always felt that had Malone cared only about individual glory he could have surpassed Kareem's record.
He was coming off a strong season with the Los Angeles Lakers - albeit he say out half of it with an injury - in 2003-04, and still among the league's top forwards.
Had Malone decided to come back with anyone for 2004-05, it's likely he would surpassed Kareem that year. Certainly within less than two seasons.
But, like I said, that wasn't what Karl -- nicknamed "The Mailman" -- was about.
Part of me has always wondered if Malone purposely chose not to challenge Kareem's record, perhaps out of respect, perhaps out of avoiding the incredible spotlight, perhaps out of feeling he hadn't achieved the goals that had been more important to him.
Whatever the reason, I respected Malone's decision - even though as a lifetime Utah Jazz follower I would have loved to see him do it.
There's an iconic career sports record or two I wish the latter-day challenger would have chosen to let stand.
For Karl, he spoke about his immense desire to win a NBA title as the main motivator as the years passed. But, it wasn't to be.
The Jazz made it to the NBA Finals in 1997 and 1998. The Chicago Bulls stood in the way each time.
I still recall Malone's early career with the Jazz, when I kept track of every game.
He struggled back then at the free throw line (he would transform himself from a 50-percent shooter at the charity stripe to 75 percent) and I believe he missed a crucial offering or two, which led to a public display by fiery Utah head coach Frank Layden and comments to the media by a Jazz star and Malone.
Layden fined one of the players 30 dimes (pieces of silver) and the other two cents (for his thoughts) and let it go.
Soon, the next season, I believe, Malone became the team's primary star along with point guard John Stockton. They perfected the pick-and-the-roll and developed into one of the greatest tandems in pro basketball history.
At times, Malone let his discontent flow over the top like a lava trail, especially when it came to making the Jazz the best team it could be.
He could say some pretty harsh things, especially about the franchise leadership, but then things seemed to calm and everyone back in sync.
At such times, typical Jazz fans were forgiving, and credited Malone's acerbic statements as Karl being Karl.
There is a special connection Jazz fans feel with Karl. I can't really verbalize it.
Again, I believe Malone was mainly motivated by the team's competitiveness, although I think he also put high stock in wanting to believe he was respected for his contributions and loyalty.
Finally, the Jazz matured to NBA Finals status. The 1998 championship run has always maintained a special place in my heart.
The furor and fever infected Salt Lake City in May and June that year. I happened to be home for a couple of weeks during that time; the scene was absolutely amazing - almost every car whizzing by with Jazz flags flapping in the wind, every other house with Jazz banners or other messages, including rows of purple flowers, in their yards.
Beyond that, for me, my sister went through her first cancer operation during those weeks. She loved the Jazz, too, so all that excitement helped distract from the challenges.
Malone even touched my reporting in Bartlesville. A local basketball-loving teenager suffered a stroke. Somehow the word got to Malone that he was this young man's favorite player. Arrangements were made for travel expenses for the teenager to travel to Salt Lake City to watch a Jazz game and meet with Malone.
Those days of Malone's shadow on the basketball court are long gone. Malone retired 19 years ago. His last season was LeBron's first.
Malone remained the NBA's second-leading career scorer during all that time.
As I look back, I'm kind of glad he left the big record on the table. It wouldn't have made a difference to the character, personality, devotion, focus and identity he brought - and is still bringing - to the game.
This article originally appeared on Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise: TupaTalk column
