<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">According to several reports- including one that will appear in Wednesday morning's Los Angeles Times- if Karl Malone chooses to play this season, he will most likely sign with the San Antonio Spurs. Malone has let it be known that he will not play for the Lakers because he is infuriated by comments made publicly and privately to him by Kobe Bryant. Until last week, Malone had favored a return to the Lakers and his agent had been negotiating to make that scenario a reality, but comments made by Bryant are said to have upset Malone beyond the point of return. </div> Link
No big surprise here, he wants his ring and he will go to whatever team has the best chance of winning, he took Kobe's quote and blew it up...let him sign here, I Dont know if they will go all the way, but they are a top 2 team from the West and have a great shot, a lot better shot than the Lakers would have.
Malone's agent has no business taking this "personally" (as stated in the article), because it isn't about him. He's just mad that his 10% last year was a lot less than it would have been if Malone had stayed with the Jazz. I'm starting to see the truth in Malone's words, Kobe was a huge distraction last year. How would that make you feel if you joined a team, and then one of the stars was constantly fighting with the other? Showing up to games late (even though it couldn't be helped), only to have his tardiness overlooked because he drops 40 and your team wins, with him getting all the credit. While I don't agree with Malone holding out, I don't agree with Kobe's comments given situation.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Jurassic:</div><div class="quote_post">I'm starting to see the truth in Malone's words, Kobe was a huge distraction last year. How would that make you feel if you joined a team, and then one of the stars was constantly fighting with the other?</div> So Shaq was a huge distraction last year, also...since Kobe and Shaq were both bickering back and forth. <div class="quote_poster">Quoting Jurassic:</div><div class="quote_post">Showing up to games late (even though it couldn't be helped), only to have his tardiness overlooked because he drops 40 and your team wins, with him getting all the credit.</div> If the team wins, and a player drops 40 points...sure, he should get the credit. When does a player NOT get credit for a 40+ point game, a game winner and, well...the win? Malone just didn't like the situation the Lakers were in this year, and found an easy way out of it. Simple as that.
Can you blame Malone? What is the sole item adn NBA pleyer lives for? Malone has every right to pursue a team that will accept him and not only that play and hopefully win a championship. As a Spurs fan, I welcome Karl Malone...I think he will add a much needed toughness to our already underrated bench. If Karl Malone comes to SA I think it will have a much bigger impact than his arrival in LA. Last year the lakers were good but they weren't a championship team. This year LA is no where close to being a championship team so if I was Karl Malone adn had the opp to play for a team of San Antonio's Caliber I would jump all over it.
I hope Malone will not join the Spurs. If Malone joines the Spurs, Spurs wont get the ring. I have a strong feeling that Malone is fated to have no chance to wear the rings, no matter which team he goes, no matter how strong that team is, still no champion... I personally don't like MALONE as well... just my $0.02 thought
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting GameTime:</div><div class="quote_post">Can you blame Malone? What is the sole item adn NBA pleyer lives for? Malone has every right to pursue a team that will accept him and not only that play and hopefully win a championship. As a Spurs fan, I welcome Karl Malone...I think he will add a much needed toughness to our already underrated bench. If Karl Malone comes to SA I think it will have a much bigger impact than his arrival in LA. Last year the lakers were good but they weren't a championship team. This year LA is no where close to being a championship team so if I was Karl Malone adn had the opp to play for a team of San Antonio's Caliber I would jump all over it.</div> The Lakers weren't a championship team? What? So, that should mean that NO team in the West was a championship team, since the Lakers stomped everyone in the playoffs, including everyone's favorite, the Wolves.
I hate Malone i hope he doesnt come to the Spurs he is a distraction and so how he will mess up the Spurs chance of the Spurs winning the Championship. He just waited to see how the Lakers were going to play without him and now that he see's that they suck he wants to go to the Spurs who is the best team in the NBA. I lost a lot of respect for Malone when he left Utah and now is try'n to jump from team to team just to win a ring He should go to Wolves so he can ruin their chance of winning. Malone Sucks!!!!!!!!! go back to Utah or stay in LA anywhere but SA
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting realdealbneal:</div><div class="quote_post">So Shaq was a huge distraction last year, also...since Kobe and Shaq were both bickering back and forth.</div> I never said that he wasn't, and I agree he was. But since we're getting technical, Shaq stopped talking once Phil told them to. Whereas Kobe ran to Jim Gray.... And for anyone who responds to this, don't turn it into Kobe vs Shaq because that is not my intention. <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">If the team wins, and a player drops 40 points...sure, he should get the credit. When does a player NOT get credit for a 40+ point game, a game winner and, well...the win?</div> I wasn't referring just to the Denver win. But if you think about it, Kobe was in a similar situation as Malone is this year. For those games when he was late, they didn't know when to expect out of him. When would he arrive? How well would he produce after a long tiring day in court and a plane flight? They had to go to war regardless, kind of like Kobe's comments about this year's Lakers without Malone. The supported Kobe through all of this, and I think that Malone just wanted to see the same support show towards him. Not that I agree with Malone's actions, but that is his point of view. <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">The Lakers weren't a championship team? What? </div> I think what he meant is that they weren't literally a championship team because they didn't win a ring. They certainly were a championship calibre team (as were a few others in the west and maybe one in the east), but they didn't get it done like Malone wanted.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting the_greatest#23:</div><div class="quote_post"> I lost a lot of respect for Malone when he left Utah and now is try'n to jump from team to team just to win a ring He should go to Wolves so he can ruin their chance of winning.</div> Yeah, I hate it when free agents prefer to play for a great team instead of an average team. It's just so selfish. It's funny how Malone is being penalized for wanting to sign with a contender just because he was a great player so long in Utah. I would think that after all the work he put into trying to make Utah a great team over nearly 2 decades, he'd have earned the right to sign another team in the twilight of his career. If Malone had been merely an above-average player who had played for several teams, no one would be dissing him for wanting to be part of a great, championship-caliber team in San Antonio. How come no one is criticizing Brent Barry for signing with the Spurs?
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Jurassic:</div><div class="quote_post">I think what he meant is that they weren't literally a championship team because they didn't win a ring. They certainly were a championship calibre team (as were a few others in the west and maybe one in the east), but they didn't get it done like Malone wanted.</div> Haha, like Malone wanted? Screw Karl Malone...he didn't get ANYTHING done in the Finals, because he didn't play. That's like giving Marcus Douthit a ring, when yes, he is a Laker...but he's not playing for us this season (this just assuming we would win this season). Why would we do that? I'm almost happy that Karl didn't get his wish, even though the Lakers lost.
The Lakers are rebuilding right now and probably won't even make past the first 2 rounds of the playoffs, if that, so Malone isn't really a guy they needed. Maybe, deep down, Kobe and Karl realized this. San Antonio is a much better situation for Karl Malone, and he'd be more valuable to the Spurs than the Lakers anyways. And after the Lakers organization traded away Gary Payton after signing him in the offseason, they can't really complain about Karl Malone being disloyal or some garbage like that.
I don't think it's fair for people to rag on Karl Malone for signing with the Lakers and now the Spurs (if this talk proves to be true, of course). He's a future hall of famer who gave his best efforts to get a ring with the Jazz. The way things turned out, he couldn't get it done with that team. Then he became a free agent. FREE. He has every right to join any team he wants, as it is the right of any free agent, no matter the level of their talent and market value. Who wouldn't want to join a team that has the best chance to get you what you want? Players will sign for any team, if they offer them the most money (if money is the important issue for them). For Karl, it's the ring he covets. That was evident when he gave up about $18 million to sign for $1.5 million with the Lakers. It's his last year, he wants to give it one more shot. He wants to go to a team with the most promise, and a team that will have an effective use of his abilities. I'm not saying that I think it's the Spurs precisely. I won't even get into that. I'm not, and never was, a Karl Malone fan. Is part of that because he showed no "loyalty" to the Jazz? Not in the least. If he were to join the Spurs, I could only welcome him to the team. His signing wouldn't ruin my love for all of the players on the team. Nor do I think it will hinder the team's chance at a ring, or ruin the great team chemistry. Anyone that signs with the Spurs now, is just an additive. If they aren't effective, they aren't needed. I personally think the Spurs bench is deep enough as it is. Malone may even prove to be a perfect match? I won't knock the possibility just because of his results in LA.
He should join the Spurs if he wants a championship, they are much better then the Lakers in terms of contending for a ring.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting fromdowntown:</div><div class="quote_post">I don't think it's fair for people to rag on Karl Malone for signing with the Lakers and now the Spurs (if this talk proves to be true, of course). He's a future hall of famer who gave his best efforts to get a ring with the Jazz. The way things turned out, he couldn't get it done with that team. Then he became a free agent. FREE. He has every right to join any team he wants, as it is the right of any free agent, no matter the level of their talent and market value. Who wouldn't want to join a team that has the best chance to get you what you want? Players will sign for any team, if they offer them the most money (if money is the important issue for them). For Karl, it's the ring he covets. That was evident when he gave up about $18 million to sign for $1.5 million with the Lakers. It's his last year, he wants to give it one more shot. He wants to go to a team with the most promise, and a team that will have an effective use of his abilities. I'm not saying that I think it's the Spurs precisely. I won't even get into that. I'm not, and never was, a Karl Malone fan. Is part of that because he showed no "loyalty" to the Jazz? Not in the least. If he were to join the Spurs, I could only welcome him to the team. His signing wouldn't ruin my love for all of the players on the team. Nor do I think it will hinder the team's chance at a ring, or ruin the great team chemistry. Anyone that signs with the Spurs now, is just an additive. If they aren't effective, they aren't needed. I personally think the Spurs bench is deep enough as it is. Malone may even prove to be a perfect match? I won't knock the possibility just because of his results in LA.</div> Thank you. Spurs fans seem to be looking at this whole thing with much more clarity than the Laker fans.
