Ex-Jazzman Austin named most improved
NEW YORK (AP) - Isaac Austin of the Miami Heat, who came back from a season in Turkey, was voted the NBA's most improved player on Saturday.
Austin, a 6-foot-10 center, averaged 9.7 points and 5.8 rebounds and shot 50 percent as the backup to Alonzo Mourning. When Mourning was injured late in the season, he started and averaged 15.1 points and 8.1 rebounds.
He received 41 votes of a possible 115 from a panel of media members, 24 more than Toronto's Doug Christie. Portland's Rasheed Wallace was third with 13 votes and Austin's Miami teammate, Voshon Lenard, was fourth with nine votes.
Austin played for Tuborg Izmir in Turkey in the 1995-96 season after spending parts of three seasons with Utah and Philadelphia. He and Lenard follow in the tradition of Anthony Mason and John Starks, two other well-traveled players who Pat Riley, now the Miami coach, made into solid NBA players when he coached the New York Knicks.
Malone gets MVP nod from SportsZone users
BELLEVUE, Wash. - Karl Malone edged Michael Jordan for league MVP honors as voted on by ESPNet SportsZone users. Of 22,044 responding to a poll, 40.9 percent fans picked Malone, 37.1 percent Jordan, 11 percent Grant Hill, 6.4 percent Glen Rice and 4.3 percent chose Patrick Ewing.
The poll was voluntary and available to all Zone users.
Jazz tickets available
The Utah Jazz announced Saturday that 200 tickets are available for today's game against the Lakers at the Delta Center. Many of the seats are in the lower bowl. The tickets will go on sale this morning at all the usual Jazz ticket outlets and will be sold on a first come, first served basis.