Turning from 300 West onto 100 South will soon become the greatest of Utah's sports catchphrases — Stockton to Malone.
The Salt Lake City Council approved an honorary name change Tuesday for 100 South between 300 and 400 West for Karl Malone, meaning the street named for the retired Utah Jazz forward will intersect with one named for his point guard teammate, John Stockton.
The team will unveil the street sign and a statue of Malone on March 23 when it retires his No. 32 jersey.
"It's a great honor," Malone said Tuesday through his agent, Dwight Manley.
Jazz President Dennis Haslam initiated the request with the city; the team paid $250 for the application and another $400 to $500 for the street-sign switch.
Team owner Larry Miller wanted a street named for Malone ever since Stockton got one of his own a year ago, said Linda Luchetti, a spokeswoman for the team — and it didn't matter that Malone spent his last year in the NBA playing for the Los Angeles Lakers.
"You don't retire a player's jersey because they finished their career with you — you retire a player's jersey because of the contribution they made while playing with your team," Luchetti said. "It's based on the contribution they made to the team while they were playing with the team."
Councilman Carlton Christensen said he was disappointed to see Malone leave a few years ago but is eager to honor him.
"I had misgivings when he went to L.A., but it shouldn't overshadow the years of contribution, not only to the professional sports franchise that was here but to the youth and allowing them to come to basketball games,"
Christensen said. "This is a small token of our appreciation."
Miller wanted to keep the street change a secret, attorney Scott Bates said, but the council's public process brought the surprise to light. Malone hadn't heard of the street change before Tuesday, though, Manley said.
"He had not heard anything about this, so he was quite taken," Manley said. "It's a great surprise."
E-mail: kswinyard@desnews.com