HOUSTON -- Karl Malone says he has nothing for which to apologize. He does, however, have something which he must pay.
A fine.The two-time NBA MVP was docked $10,000 by the league Friday for his part in an out-of-control game Thursday night in Dallas, where the Jazz beat the Mavericks 105-92. Dallas coach Don Nelson was suspended for one game and also was fined $10,000 for his part in a midcourt argument with Malone, who had just been involved in his second incident of the night with Mavericks center Shawn Bradley.
Malone, according to NBA senior vice president Rod Thorn, was fined both for elbowing Bradley late in the first half of the game and for engaging in a confrontation with Nelson during second-half play. Nelson was suspended and fined for walking back onto the court, after just having received two technical fouls and an ejection, to battle Malone, whom he bumped and seemed to shove.
Thorn called the incident a really strange exchange.
"Nelson got ejected, and he is still ranting and raving toward the refs. It appears something, or some things, is said that Karl heard and took exception to," said Thorn, who reviewed a tape of the incident and sought input from league security personnel who interviewed everyone involved. "Karl is coming toward him, and is saying something to Nelson."
Nelson was mad that Bradley had just been called for a blocking foul on Malone, who appeared to lead with his knee as he drove hard to the basket on the 7-foot-6 Mavs center. Bradley bruised his abdomen but later returned to the game.
Nelson, who appeared to be the aggressor, and Malone, who did walk in Nelson's direction, exchanged words and bumped chests, but never came to blows.
"I didn't do it for any reason other than protecting my team," Nelson told the Dallas Morning News on Friday. "I thought there were a couple of dirty plays, and I thought he (Malone) was trying to hurt my players, so I went to their defense, and I'll do it every time.
"I'm not intimidated by Karl Malone, or anybody else," Nelson added, "and that's just the way I am."
Malone, who was said to be rather unhappy with news of the fine but did not return a call seeking comment, refused to accept any blame for the incidents Thursday night.
"I could care less what the league thinks," he said. "I've got nothing to apologize for, and I will not apologize to anybody for anything."
Neither Nelson nor Bradley commented on the matter immediately after the game, a wild one featuring eight technical fouls and the ejections of Nelson, Bradley and Jazz coach Jerry Sloan, who was tossed for arguing about perceived illegal defense infractions in the fourth quarter.
Malone, who would not divulge what Nelson was saying to him, said his own physical play Thursday was nothing out of the ordinary, and the play that set off Nelson was nothing he hasn't done before.
"I was going to the basket hard -- just like I always do," said Malone, who has been suspended three times by the league in his 15-season career, including one game two seasons ago for elbowing David Robinson and one game last season for swatting at Othella Harrington. "And that's the way I'll go to the basket for the rest of my career."
Malone suggested he thought Bradley, by falling hard to the floor, had embellished the force of the elbow with which he was struck -- if he was struck at all.
No foul was called on the play, though Nelson thinks there should have been. He did not, however, dub Malone dirty: "I'm not going to go so far as to say that," he said, "but he definitely has a history."
Jazz teammate Jeff Hornacek, for one, did not think the elbow was dirty at all.
"Shawn was trying to get up on Karl on a couple of those rebounds, and when you get that close to a guy, it could be on a 6-foot guy, and he's going to end up getting elbowed," Hornacek said. "Some of the other stuff -- I don't see how that's physical play. Karl drives to the basket for a layup, and, I don't know, he (Bradley) gets hurt by taking a charge, or whatever he was trying to do. I guess those things happen in a game."
The Mavericks, meanwhile, weren't surprised to see both calls go Malone's way.
"He is an all-star," Mavs guard Hubert Davis said. "He knows how to score. Knows how to get to the free-throw line. He uses his body well. He gets a lot of those calls, consistently, every night."
Thorn said Malone's fine was levied because of both the elbow to Bradley and the confrontation with Nelson, but he suggested it was the battle with the coach that carried more weight. Nelson received the stiffer penalty, Thorn said, because of his position as a coach.
"When you're looking at a coach and a player, a coach can't get involved in those types of things . . . even though Karl took a few steps toward Nelson," said Thorn, who added he could recall only one similar episode in recent league history -- a shouting match between then-Chicago coach Doug Collins and Detroit's Rick Mahorn. "From a coaching standpoint, when you come back and end up in a real chest-to-chest confrontation with a player, that's just not acceptable."
Malone, whose fine represents a mere fraction of his $16-million-plus annual salary, was most mad at Nelson for bumping him: "There's a fine line that you don't cross in this game," he said, "and he crossed it."
If Nelson did, as the league believes, he did so during an intense game in which almost everyone involved seemed to be on edge.
"I was already turned around when, all of sudden, I saw everyone start to go in the other direction. I turned around, and Karl and Nellie were out there," Hornacek said. "You know, this is a heated game a lot of times. Guys are trying to win, trying to put it all out there.
"The emotions run high every once in a while, and over 82 games -- sometimes you can put it aside for a few games, but when you're really into it, and really want to win a game, they seem to come out, those emotions."