Their names have been inseparable ever since Fall 1985 when rookie Karl Malone caught his first pass from second-year guard John Stockton and put it in the basket. The career-long Utah Jazz teammates will probably go to the Hall of Fame together. They've been Dream Teammates twice, 1993 All-Star Game Co-MVPs. This summer, they took the Jazz to the NBA Finals.
Now they've broken new ground with their first off-the-court business venture.The Jazz's dynamic duo is building Stockton To Malone Honda at 10860 Auto Mall Drive in Sandy. The city was informed of the move by American Honda on Friday, and the partnership was announced to the media on Monday. Ground has already been broken and preliminary construction has begun, says Malone's personal publicist, Roxanne Hasegawa.
The project was in their minds during the past NBA season. "They started working on this during the season," says Hasegawa. "They had to kind of stop toward the end of the season," she said, alluding to the best playoff run in Jazz history that ended with a loss in Game 6 to the Chicago Bulls and Michael Jordan on June 13, just two weeks before Sandy got its notice that Stockton To Malone Honda was in the works.
She said the dealership is scheduled to open before the end of 1997. The players hope to have it finished prior to the October opening of the 1997-98 NBA season so they can hold a joint press conference, "but if not," Hasegawa says, "they'll have to plan the opening on a day off (from basketball) because they'll want to do it together."
Hasegawa says she doesn't think this will be their only joint business venture. "They really feel their friendship will be stronger when they're off the court," she says.
Neither player wants to do interviews about Stockton To Malone Honda now because they aren't together. Stockton is in his boyhood hometown of Spokane, and Malone returned to Salt Lake City from a trip Monday night.
Hasegawa spoke with Stockton by telephone and relays this from him: "We've worked together for a long time, and we were hoping to find a way to continue a working relationship beyond basketball."
Malone said, "I'm really glad we're going to start our business partnership here in the Salt Lake area, and we want to thank American Honda for giving us this opportunity. We can't think of a more perfect situation than to start a business here in the home of the Jazz. The people here have been so supportive of us throughout the years, especially this season."
Hasegawa said Jazz owner Larry H. Miller, who owns about 20 auto dealerships and who is a partner with Malone in his Toyota dealership in Albuquerque, which opened three years ago, is likely involved in this project only as an advisor. Malone and Miller had to get special NBA scrutiny of the Albuquerque dealership so that the league would be satisfied that it wasn't a way to bypass the league salary cap and pay Malone more than would be allowed.
"He's probably advising them, but this is Karl and John," she says.
Hasegawa says the dealership should be good-sized. "I would think so. Karl doesn't do anything little, and you know that they'll do this right because it's the two of them, and it's their names."
They will have involvement beyond simply the use of their names, as well. "Karl's never been one of those owners that, if his name's on something, he's not involved in the day to day stuff, and John's going to be the same way," Hasegawa says. "These guys are willing to learn as much about this business as they can. It's like a new deal for them. They're not just going to be just bosses whose names are on something; they're going to be involved in the dealership. Karl is heavily involved with the one that he owns in Albuquerque, and he's not even down there, yet if you ask him about a Toyota car, he knows all the details about each car," Hasegawa says.