Insider Special: Scouting Report

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NBA Scouting Report: Malone's importance hasn't diminished

By Terry Brown

Friday, January 24 Updated 12:19 PM EST

Your dad called.

He said he and Karl Malone and can still kick the stuffing out of you and any other forward of your choice any day of the week on any court for any reason.

"This is great," said one NBA scout. "We've become so caught up in the future and the potential of players that Karl Malone and what he is doing is going virtually unnoticed. Which is probably exactly what he wants. Remember, he won two MVP trophies because voters only heard how good he was in Utah and figured he'd be twice that in New York or Chicago or LA. He won the unpopular vote."

Malone

So let the kids have the All-Star Game this year. Let them regret having Yao Ming as the starting center in place of Shaquille O'Neal while Vince Carter of 10-game fame is a starting small forward but not a single Dallas Maverick or Sacramento King.

The Mailman is still too busy trying to win his first NBA title.

Amare Stoudemire was 2 years old when Malone played his first NBA game in 1985, but that didn't stop the old man from hanging 26 points on the youngster to his 17 on Jan. 12, or 24 on Jan. 8 to Stoudemire's 13.

Kevin Garnett was 9 years old at that same time and Malone just scored 33 on him on Jan. 4 to KG's 26.

Shawn Kemp, for point of reference, was 16 on that day and he's down to averaging 7.6 points per game in 22.8 minutes compared to Malone's 19.5 in 36 minutes.

"Think about it this way," said another scout. "Other players are performing well for the Jazz but when it comes right down to it, that team is turning to a 40 year old to determine the outcome. I get a kick out of hearing how Charles Oakley remains effective on the court by scoring less than a basket per game or Walt Williams hitting a three-pointer a game because of the little things they do. Well, Karl is older than both of them, does those little things and is still pulling the train."

On Jan. 16, Michael Jordan scored 32 points on 12 of 25 shooting to lead the Wizards over the Magic, 108-93, to a round of applause from across the nation, headlines and highlights all around.

On that same night, Malone scored 34 on 14 of 23 shooting to lead the Jazz over the Sonics, 92-85.

The Wizards are now 21-21 and half a game from lottery shame.

The Jazz are 25-16 and half a game from home court in the first round of the playoffs and one game from the third seed behind only the Mavericks and Kings.

"It's almost like he's invisible," said the scout. "It boggles the mind and is actually kind of disappointing for him and the league for not being noticed."

Tim Duncan, Chris Webber, Kevin Garnett, Jermaine O'Neal, Shawn Marion and Dirk Nowitzki all average more points and rebounds per game than Malone.

Antawn Jamison, Paul Pierce, Antoine Walker, Jamal Mashburn, Shareef Abdur-Rahim and Glen Robinson all average more points.

Elton Brand and Pau Gasol average more rebounds.

And that's just the forwards not even counting Rasheed Wallace.

Yet, to a man, they speak of him with reverence, the purity of his pursuit, as futile as it seems now, remaining beyond reproach, even his legacy.

Forget all the points, the MVPs, the 12 all-star appearances.

Malone could very well be the greatest player in the history of professional team sports to never win a title.

And for that, even, he seems nobler.

"To be honest with you, I think about Malone when we're going to play them," said another scout. "But other than that, I've gotten to taking him for granted. He's going to score 20 and the Jazz are going to make the playoffs though each year I keep saying to myself that it's got to end sometime. But when?"

As a rookie, Malone shot 48 percent from the line and free throws made up 16 percent of his point production. This year, he's shooting 76 percent and free throws make up 29 percent of that same production.

In November of this season, Malone was averaging 18.1 points per game on 40 percent shooting. In December, he was up to 18.5 on 44 percent. This month, he's at 22.4 on 47 percent.

For the year, he is averaging 19.5 points per game on 43.8 percent which would mean that if the season ended today, it would mark the first time in more than 16 seasons that he did not score 20 or more points a game.

And that he fell 2,900 points shy of breaking Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's all-time scoring record of 38,387 points.

Now try to imagine being so great at something that the only things you were remembered for were those that weren't.

Such is honor among the immortals.

"Last year, I heard his body fat was 4.2 percent," said a scout. "This year, I checked, it's at 2.8 percent. I feel like putting him in a police line up, year after year, between the ages of 30 and 40, and you could see how his body is actually getting better to play against guys who were 10 years younger than him and are now 20."