BOISE — Karl Malone didn't see it coming.
When John Stockton and his wife, Nada, asked Malone this past offseason to be the godfather of their youngest child, Samuel, the Mailman was a bit taken aback.
In the Roman Catholic faith, that honor is normally reserved for only relatives or dear friends.
"We've always been close, and that right there — I can't say I was shocked, but I was pleasantly surprised that he would even (consider that)," said Malone, who is going into his 17th season as Stockton's Jazz teammate.
Malone said Saturday the gesture says something about his relationship with Stockton, who is the godfather of Karl and Kay Malone's oldest daughter, Kaydee.
"It's kind of neat," he said.
"I see no reason," Malone added, "why we're not going to finish together. I think the writing's kind of on the wall."
Stockton, the NBA's all-time assists and steals leader, signed a two-year contract last month.
Malone, who has two more years remaining on his current contract, is the NBA's second-leading scorer with 32,919 points. He would have to play at least three more seasons to pass No. 1 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (38,387).
THREE'S A CROWD: With Donyell Marshall, Andrei Kirilenko, Scott Padgett and perhaps Bryon Russell all vying for playing time at small forward — the 3 spot — Jazz coach Jerry Sloan will have his hands full when it comes time to make lineup decisions.
He ought not to look to Malone for help.
"That's the 3. I play the 4. So it ain't my business," the Jazz power forward said.
"But," Malone did offer, "every now and then I let 'em spell me a little bit at the 4 spot. Just for a little while. Keep it warm for me."
Malone maintains he has no desire to make the call on who will start at the 3.
"I couldn't do it," he said. "I just know he knows who his 4 man is — and probably knows who his 1 man is."
The 1, of course, would be point guard Stockton.
MISC.: The Jazz scrimmaged here Saturday and have practices scheduled for this morning and Monday morning in preparation for Tuesday night's preseason opener against Sacramento at the Pavilion on the campus of Boise State University . . . KSTU-TV Ch. 13 and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' KSL-TV Ch. 5 were the only stations that bothered to send sports crews from Salt Lake to Boise for the opening of the Jazz's four-day training-camp stay in Idaho . . . With free-agent signee John Amaechi using his NBA seniority to claim uniform No. 13, rookie Kirilenko — who wore that number in his native Russia — has decided to wear No. 47.
E-mail: tbuckley@desnews.com