A Deseret News survey indicates that Utah Jazz forward Karl Malone will receive the NBA's Most Valuable Player award for the second time in his career.
Over the past week, the News surveyed 51 of the 118 voters for the prestigious honor and found that 20 definitely planned to vote for Malone. Six voters said they were leaning toward Malone, seven were undecided, and one declined to say whom he was voting for (though he indicated it wasn't Malone).Malone's stiffest competition should come from Alonzo Mourning of the Miami Heat. The 6-foot-10 center received 12 votes in our poll. San Antonio's Tim Duncan received the other five votes.
Ballots were due at the NBA offices today, though some voters may wait to see how today's Jazz-Spurs matchup in San Antonio goes before making a decision.
There are 118 votes cast for the award. National media account for 31 of those votes, and each team's public-relations staff chooses three of its local media to vote.
Voters choose five MVP candidates, ranking them from 1 to 5. A first-place vote is worth 10 points, with subsequent places worth seven, five, three and one point.
The award is announced approximately three weeks after the regular season, said Evan Silverman, the NBA's manager of sports media relations.
Sam Smith of the Chicago Tribune says he voted for Malone "because he's the best, most consistent, most reliable player in the league. He plays all the time. He's not statistically as good as he's been other years, but his team has the best record, without the best talent. He is clearly the elite player in the league."
Rick Wise of the New York Times thinks it's a two-man race and that Malone is more important to his team than Mourning is to the Heat.
"(The Jazz) still have the best record in the league, don't they?" he said. "Karl strapped that team on his shoulders and said, 'C'mon, let's try to do this.' Miami could go to the Eastern Conference Finals without Mourning, partly because it's wide-open and partly because (coach Pat) Riley would find a way to get it done."
Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle said he's leaning toward Malone, and he doesn't buy the argument that Mourning deserves it because he appears to have gotten his usually volcanic emotions in check.
"I'm not giving Mourning a bunch of extra credit for not blowing up," he said. "You're supposed to not blow up. And Tim Duncan is more sheltered. If he has a bad night, they still win. If somebody broke into my house today, pointed a gun at me and said, 'Vote,' I'd say Karl."
"Malone's stats are down, but that's pretty much true across the league," said Greg Logan of Newsday. "There are still too many questions about Mourning's temperarament at crunch time."
Mourning's past surliness with the media, too, could hurt his chances, especially in the West. At least one voter acknowledged that his support for Malone was as much an anti-Mourning statement as an endorsement of the Jazz star.
Another factor in the voting is the short season. With fewer games between East and West teams this year, voters on this side of the continent had fewer chances to see Mourning play. The same goes for Malone in the East, but Malone's reputation was firmly entrenched in voters' minds; for Mourning this was something of a breakout year.
The short season probably also spoiled Duncan's bid. When the Spurs got off to a 6-9 start, everyone noticed. They've been the hottest team in the NBA over the past two months, but some voters indicated that only recently have they started looking at Duncan as a worthwhile candidate.
One thing that didn't seem to be a factor was the recent accusations that Malone is a dirty player, though Ira Winderman of the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel, while voicing his support for Malone, jokingly added, "But if anyone else gets pummeled between now and then, I reserve the right to change my vote."
A number of voters expressed the opinion that since there was no candidate head-and-shoulders above the others, Malone was almost a default choice.
"It's almost a process of elimination," said Phil Taylor of CNN/Sports Illustrated. "There's no reason not to vote for Malone."
Mourning's supporters frequently cited the way the Heat kept winning even in the face of adversity.
"While Malone has had all the pieces together for most of the year, Mourning has made up for injuries to key teammates," said Richie Whitt of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
One thing voters couldn't agree on is which of the top two candidates has stronger teammates.
"Karl's supporting cast is vastly superior to Mourning's," said Glenn Nelson of the Seattle Times. "He's contributing more to their success than Karl is."
"At age 35, Malone is clearly carrying that team in a situation where the only additions were Thurl Bailey and Todd Fuller," said Phil Jasner of the Philadelphia Daily News. "That speaks for itself."
Dennis Deitch of the Delaware County Daily Times said Malone is a stronger candidate this year than when he won the award two years ago.
"I didn't think he deserved it two years ago," Deitch said. "I thought that was a gift thing, kind of a lifetime achievement award. But I think he sincerely deserves it this year."
Deseret News sports correspondent Eric Bresee contributed to this story.