With the Feb. 9 NBA All-Star Game less than three weeks away and the 25-15 Jazz winning much more often than not lately, there is wonder if anyone from Utah will play in the midseason showcase at Atlanta.
The league will formally announce starters, as selected via fan balloting, Thursday night.
When it does, no one with the Jazz stands a chance at winning a spot.
When reserves selected by NBA coaches are revealed Tuesday, however, the possibility exists that at least one name will come from the Jazz.
A potential pick is Most Improved Player candidate Matt Harpring, whose scoring average of 18.6 points per game exceeds his previous best (11.8 with Philadelphia last season) by nearly seven points.
Another is old-stalwart John Stockton, whose assists totals stack up well against all of the league's top point guards this season. The NBA's all-time assists leader has played in 10 All-Star Games, the last in 2000.
Then there is 14-time selection Karl Malone, who hasn't always been thrilled about spending his weekend off hanging with the league's other stars.
This time, though, the Jazz's season-scoring leader and NBA's No. 2 all-time scorer hints he wouldn't mind making the trip.
"You go through a stage where (it's), 'OK, I've been there, done that,' " Malone said Tuesday. "Then, all a sudden, you go through a stage (thinking) . . . '39 (years old), let me see if they still think that I can still play.'
"I've been there, so it wouldn't disappoint me (not to go)," Malone added. "Because I think Matt (Harpring) is having that kind of year. . . . But, the only thing I know is at this point in my career, when coaches pick you and they still say you can play, that's a satisfaction in itself."
Whatever happens, the Jazz will have at least one participant in All-Star Weekend: for the second straight season, forward Andrei Kirilenko has been chosen to play in the annual Rookie Challenge game.
E-MAIL: tbuckley@desnews.com