来源:http://www.sltrib.com/jazz/ci_2567001 At the end, Karl Malone said, "Thank you." But he added a whole lot more, just because . . . because . . . well, that is Malone's indomitably unique way. When he has a thought bubble up from within, it's like hucking a Superball inside a shower stall. It bounces around hard until it caroms out the top. There's simply no containing it. And so, at his retirement press conference Sunday in the Delta Center, a venue his remarkable play helped build, in front of an overflow crowd of reporters and well wishers, the man who spent 18 seasons with the Jazz, somehow melding his countenance, his identity, with the club's, earnestly belched out a bunch of compelling and candid and downright odd tidbits. He may be the first NBA great ever to have punctuated his career with appreciation, followed by wave after wave of packaged practical thought, darn- near philosophical wisdom/advice, a few torrid truths and, near the end, an ominous threat. He even revealed, in an opaque sort of way, what he mumbled to himself at the free-throw line before shooting And, yes, once or twice, he spoke in the third person. It was, at times, a bumpy ride, flying hither and thither. We'll take it from the top. Malone was gracious in his gratitude to Larry Miller, Jerry Sloan, former teammates, the fans, the non-fans (who he said motivated him), David Stern, even Rod Thorn (who as the former NBA executive in charge of doling out player fines, cost Malone a boatload of cash) and the referees, too. He said when he is inducted into the Hall of Fame, he will enter as a Jazz player, in the old-style uniform. He sympathized with the current iteration of the Jazz - to a point - and urged fans to "hang in there" with them. But he also took some of the players to task , saying: "They're just not giving the effort. . . . That's the most disappointing thing about this team." He said the two seasons in which the Jazz made it to the NBA Finals "were the funnest years I had playing ball." He said missing out on the league's all-time scoring record - he finished second to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar - was "not a big concern to me." He recently visited San Antonio to look into signing with the Spurs, but when he got on the plane to fly home, he said, "I knew I was done. If I can't bring 200 percent, I can't bring anything. When I lost my mom, I could not give 100 percent mentally." He said he was happy to finally have made that determination: "I am totally at peace with my decision." Next, Malone got on his philosophical roll, a kind of wild mix of bromides by Aristotle, Plato, Kant, Tolstoy, Nietzsche and Jack Handey, all with a down- home Karl Malone slant. He said: "Some say records are made to be broken; All records [including the NBA scoring record] are not made to be broken." If you don't cry, you're not a man. Well, I have. I do. I cried when I saw 'Free Willy.' " "Don't ever sit back and wait on opportunities." "Go out and try to make a difference in life." "Whatever you do or say, you're going to be dissected. . . . I don't want to be famous anymore." "I am who I am. I would never change from who I am." "Stay proud. I learned that from my grandpa." "I like thoroughbreds, shoulders up and chest out." "Show me 10 ways I can't, and I'll show you 20 ways I can." "What doesn't break us makes us stronger." "To all the haters out there who had things to say to Karl Malone, say them to my face." "If the shoe fits, wear it." This came in connection with his description of this year's Jazz, saying some of the players were dogging it, just collecting paychecks. On 19 years in the NBA: "Enough is enough." "Everything that happens in your career, in your life, it sticks with you." "To quote the Wolverine [from the "X-Men" movies]: 'A wolverine is an animal that you don't cross. When you back him in a corner, [when] you mess with his family . . . you get to deal with the wolverine.' " OK, that last one came out of the ozone and was nothing short of weird. It was Ann Landers meets James Cagney, as though Malone was saying: "In conclusion, I'm going to throw out a warning to all y'all. It's been a great career, have a great life, but don't any of you say anything about my family." When Malone spotted former University of Utah football coach Ron McBride, who was forced out two seasons back, in the room, he blurted: "You got a raw deal up there." He said he and his wife, Kay, who on this occasion was classy as usual, would keep a house in Salt Lake City. He said he would one day like to be a part-owner of an NBA franchise: "I think big." On Carlos Boozer, Malone said: "I don't think he knows how good he can be. He's Carlos Boozer, not Karl Malone. Let that kid grow into being Carlos Boozer." He said he didn't regret signing with the Lakers, despite their ill-fated run for a title last postseason. He said his immediate plans included: Racing in the celebrity portion of the upcoming Long Beach Grand Prix, doing some acting, "kicking back and being normal," and spending time with his family. He said he may not have won a championship ring in the NBA, but he has "six rings - they're my wife and kids." As for the words he spoke to himself before shooting free throws, he said he sometimes would say bad things about the media, sometimes say bad things about a fan who might be heckling him, sometimes say things about family members, and sometimes say something about hunting and fishing. A few minutes later, he finished up. "I took a deep breath when I started playing ball 30 years ago, when I was 11, " he said. "I can blow it out now." With that, Malone exhaled, adjusted his cowboy hat, said "Thank you," again, and walked out the door, into the sunset, shoulders up and chest out. --

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