Karl Malone was the guest of honor on the NBA's weekly teleconference last Wednesday, and here's a sampling of what was on the Mailman's mind, as elicited by media types nationwide:
On the possibility of the Jazz trading him this season: "Anything could happen. I could look up midway through this season and see that New York wants to make a blockbuster deal. Would I be opposed to it? Absolutely not." (Malone went on to say how much he likes Utah, then added . . . ) "Could I adjust somewhere (else)? In a heartbeat."(Earlier, however, Malone had noted of the Jazz, "They've never been an organization to make blockbuster deals.")
On his salary frustrations: "You take a player like me that's locked into three more years, and the owner says he can't do anything for me, and to me that's (bleep)." Later he added, "You can't tell me right now that I'm the 20th-best player in the league. And I've been brought up to believe that if you produce, you get paid."
On a rookie salary cap: "We're (the veterans) ticked off that these young guys are coming into the league and getting all this money." (He then talked about how high-paid rookies come in thinking they know more than their coaches.) "When I came into the league, I was making $135,000, and I knew I had to get into the gym and get my game better. I was getting into my Chevy, no, my Toyota, truck, and these guys now are getting into their drop-top Porsches. You think they care about going to a health spa? Uh-uh."
On Shawn Bradley: "In all fairness to Shawn, there was a lot of pressure put on him because of the amount of money he got. When you sign that kind of contract, they want you to be a savior. Everybody expects him to turn that franchise around, and it's going to take more players than him."
On whether the Jazz's "window of opportunity" is closing as he and John Stockton get older: "God gives you an ability, talent-wise, to keep that window open as long as you want it open. I just believe in that. I don't believe in the window of opportunity closing. I feel my best years are ahead of me."
On the low preseason expectations for the Jazz: "What do you mean, preseason? They're still not talking about us. Everybody's talking about everybody else, and that's fine."
On his own expectations: "I'm excited about this season. I haven't been this excited about a season in a long time. A lot of is the way we're winning on the road, but a lot of it also is the closeness of this team."
On Jazz management: "They made a big step when they picked up Antoine Carr this summer. I think management is starting to step up to the plate."
On whether he will feel bad if he ends his career without a title: "I have so many things to do other than basketball, I'm not going to let it bother me."
SHORT STUFF: The Jazz are 10-1 against the Eastern Conference . . . The Jazz continue to be second in the league in field-goal percentage (behind Orlando), at 51 percent . . . Updated prediction for Stockton's all-time assist record-breaking game: Feb. 1 vs. Denver, at the Delta Center . . . In early All-Star balloting, announced last week, Jazz guard Jeff Hornacek was ahead of Stockton, and Dennis Rodman was ahead of Malone.
Last week against Philly, Jerry Sloan coached his 500th game as Jazz head man . . . Jay Humphries is shooting 15.8 percent (3 of 19) overall, 66.7 percent (2 of 3) from the three-point line . . . Of Jazz players who have attempted 15 or more three-pointers, John Crotty has been most accurate, at 46.7 percent. The second-place guy? Malone, at 43.8 . . . Adam Keefe leads the team in field-goal percentage, at 60.5.