Cowboy Karl doesn't tolerate disrespect
Karl Malone spent 18 years as a member of the Utah Jazz and built a Hall of Fame career there as the Mailman. His time there as a power forward with John Stockton as point guard and Jerry Sloan as coach have been the most successful stretches in the history of the Utah franchise. So, you would expect Malone to be revered in Salt Lake City and for him and the organization to be best friends until the end of time, right? Let him come around whenever he wants, get the fans nostalgic for their near-Championship years, and everybody leaves happy. Turns out, things aren’t all that amicable in the Beehive State, as a war of words has erupted between the Mailman and Utah Jazz owner Greg Miller. It’s gotten so bad, David Stern has stepped in to ask if everyone could please just stop fighting…please??
The argument started when Malone, in an interview with local Salt Lake media, accused the Jazz of disrespecting him when he was forced to turn to a scalper to get tickets to a Jazz game. He went on to complain about the way the organization had handled former guard Deron Williams, who is now with New Jersey. Malone argues that the team gave Williams too much power, which is what turned coach Jerry Sloan away from the team and soiled his desire to continue coaching. Jerry Sloan has come out and denied that to be the case, but the Mailman was on a roll and facts have nothing to do with what he’s trying to say.
For his part, Jazz owner Greg Miller has taken to twitter and his own blog to refute Malone’s accusations and do some mudslinging of his own. He claims that Malone is lying about needing a scalper to get tickets to a game, and continues to paint a history of difficulties in dealing with Malone through the years. He describes Malone as being “too unreliable and unstable” to be brought back into the organization as an assistant coach.
From ESPN.com:
“The fact is Karl is still as high maintenance as he ever was, but now he has nothing to offer to offset the grief and aggravation that comes with him,” Miller wrote in his blog.
In short, Malone has always been a pain in the ass, but now Miller doesn’t have to put up with it anymore because he’s no longer good at basketball.
The discord has been heard all over the NBA, in particular in the New York offices of commissioner David Stern. Stern has tried to mediate the two sides, being as diplomatic as possible to both his owner and the Hall of Fame former player, but even he can’t keep himself from admitting Malone has no idea what he’s talking about.
“A lot of (Karl Malone’s) charm is that he speaks his mind. But on this one…I’m not sure why Karl has put himself in the position of saying, ‘I don’t know the facts but I know what happened.” When in fact, he couldn’t have.”
To summarize, he’s always been out of control and crazy… but it was always in a fun way…and he was good at basketball. Usefulness always helps to cover up things your employer doesn’t like about you.
(pic via)
