HOUSTON -- Rudy Tomjanovich, who leaves Houston to begin his new coaching job with the Los Angeles Lakers this weekend, said he's confident that Karl Malone will stay with the Lakers.
Tomjanovich said he met with Malone recently and believes the power forward, who went down with a knee injury in December, won't leave.
"He wants to do it the right way. He is a man of principle," Tomjanovich, former coach of the Houston Rockets, told Houston television station KRIV on Wednesday. "He doesn't want to go out and not be 100 percent."
Malone, 40, has indicated if he doesn't recover fully from knee surgery he will retire. The league's second-leading scorer took a huge pay cut to join the Lakers as a free agent last year in search of his first NBA championship.
This still isnt official or anything, but its definitely going to the right direction. According to some sources, Shaq called Malone a couple of times to try to get him in Miami, but I doubt he will end up there. According to Mitch Kupchak, Karl said that IF he would return, that it would be for the Los Angeles Lakers, this was about 1 or 2 months ago so things could change a little, but its great news that Rudy expects him in gold this upcoming season, he really can make a difference for the Lakers. This will be a key pickup for the Lakers. (Lets hope Mitch Kupchak wont pull a Gary Payton on him).
If they are able to get him, that also means that they will have Brian Grant coming off the bench, which gives the Lakers a great second team with Grant, Butler and Rush.
