<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Karl Malone dropped by the Jazz's practice Friday, but he's only staying a few days. His presence at the Delta Center is about to be made permanent, though. Malone's No. 32 will be raised to the arena's rafters, fittingly alongside John Stockton's No. 12, on March 23, two sources said Friday, in conjunction with the Jazz's game that night against the Washington Wizards. Before the game, the Jazz will also unveil a 15-foot bronze sculpture of Malone on the Delta Center plaza. In what must have been one of the easiest decisions owner Larry Miller ever made, Malone will become the seventh player to have his number retired by the franchise, joining coach Frank Layden (No. 1), Darrell Griffith (35), Pete Maravich (7), Mark Eaton (53), Jeff Hornacek (14), and Stockton. "He sort of downplays it, but [Malone] seems pretty excited," one source said of the Jazz's longtime "Mailman." "Larry has promised to make it a really special night." How appropriate, considering how special Malone was to the team, the state and the NBA as a whole. Malone retired last February with 36,928 points, more than any NBA player in history except Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and he ranks among the NBA's top 10 in at least nine other categories. </div> <div align="center">Source</div>
