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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.
The 41-year-old Malone will announce his retirement Sunday, the Jazz said Friday, deciding against making one more run at an NBA title. He will hold a news conference Sunday at the Delta Center - the arena where his 1997 and 1999 league MVPs are celebrated with signs below the upper deck.
Soon, a giant No. 32 Malone jersey will hang above the court.
"Even though he never won a championship, he had an outstanding career," said Jerry Sloan, Malone's coach for 15 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."
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.
Jazz owner Larry Miller said he spoke to Malone on Thursday night and left it up to Malone on when he wanted to hold his retirement news conference. Miller said he promised Malone not to get into details about his 18 years with the Jazz until Sunday, when the emotional owner will help Malone say goodbye in the city where he started his NBA career in 1985.
And now that his playing career will officially be over, Miller said the next step is to retire Malone's number.
"The earliest it will be is the beginning of the next season," Miller said. "We'll let him choose the timing."
Malone has scored 36,928 points, just 1,459 behind Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's record.
Malone 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 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.
"I'm not as surprised as I am sad to see one of the best who ever played finally decide to hang them up," said Jazz guard Howard Eisley, a teammate of Malone's on the Western Conference championship teams.
Malone had been talking with the Spurs about signing on for one last playoff run, but decided against it.
"We had a great meeting with him (last week) and he was wonderful," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said before San Antonio's game at New Jersey on Friday night. "He felt real good about himself and he felt in another week he would be ready to go. Mentally, you could tell he didn't have the same juice, and I think he made a good decision."
Malone will end his career with the same number of seasons as Stockton, the NBA's career leader in assists and steals who retired in 2003 after 19 seasons, all with the Jazz.
Sloan said it was appropriate that Malone would return to Utah to retire.
"He had a great career here and did a terrific job for the Jazz," Sloan said.
Malone joined 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 Finals."
Malone opted out of his $1.65 million contract following 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 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.
Source: AP
The Mailman is retiring, having come up short in his quest for both during his 19-year career.
The 41-year-old Malone will announce his retirement Sunday, the Jazz said Friday, deciding against making one more run at an NBA title. He will hold a news conference Sunday at the Delta Center - the arena where his 1997 and 1999 league MVPs are celebrated with signs below the upper deck.
Soon, a giant No. 32 Malone jersey will hang above the court.
"Even though he never won a championship, he had an outstanding career," said Jerry Sloan, Malone's coach for 15 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."
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.
Jazz owner Larry Miller said he spoke to Malone on Thursday night and left it up to Malone on when he wanted to hold his retirement news conference. Miller said he promised Malone not to get into details about his 18 years with the Jazz until Sunday, when the emotional owner will help Malone say goodbye in the city where he started his NBA career in 1985.
And now that his playing career will officially be over, Miller said the next step is to retire Malone's number.
"The earliest it will be is the beginning of the next season," Miller said. "We'll let him choose the timing."
Malone has scored 36,928 points, just 1,459 behind Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's record.
Malone 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 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.
"I'm not as surprised as I am sad to see one of the best who ever played finally decide to hang them up," said Jazz guard Howard Eisley, a teammate of Malone's on the Western Conference championship teams.
Malone had been talking with the Spurs about signing on for one last playoff run, but decided against it.
"We had a great meeting with him (last week) and he was wonderful," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said before San Antonio's game at New Jersey on Friday night. "He felt real good about himself and he felt in another week he would be ready to go. Mentally, you could tell he didn't have the same juice, and I think he made a good decision."
Malone will end his career with the same number of seasons as Stockton, the NBA's career leader in assists and steals who retired in 2003 after 19 seasons, all with the Jazz.
Sloan said it was appropriate that Malone would return to Utah to retire.
"He had a great career here and did a terrific job for the Jazz," Sloan said.
Malone joined 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 Finals."
Malone opted out of his $1.65 million contract following 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 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.
Source: AP