Isiah calls Malone....

Between checking Vince Carter's injury status and Eddy Curry's availability, Knicks President Isiah Thomas has made time to give disgruntled ex-Laker Karl Malone a call.

Thomas made the call Wednesday to the agent for Malone. A free agent, Malone is ready to play again after recovering from off-season knee surgery. But because of a recent publicized rift with Kobe Bryant, he no longer wishes to play for the Lakers.

"Isiah was very forward yesterday," Dwight Manley, Malone's longtime agent, said in a telephone interview.

Isiah was very forward yesterday,

Lol is that Karl's excuse for not coming to New York now?

Malone would be an addition to New York, but I want to see him in miami more than anywhere else. Him and shaq play well together, and he could make them the best in east imo.

no way Karl should go to knicks.. he should sit down and retire or ride Utahs bench into the playoffs!

that's what i was thinking. a return to utah would be nice. or charlotte. those are my top two choices.....i suppose i could make a list. note that this is where i would LIKE him to go, not where he would go to win a championship lol

1)Utah
2)Charlotte
3)Seattle
4)New York
5)San Antonio
6)Golden STate

I just think that going to a third team sorta screws up the last part of his legacy. If he retires now thatd be great cause unless he can plays as a 42 year opld... he wont come closer to beating Abdul-Jabbar... a ring would be nice and I believe that going to Utah gives him a slight outside chance without him ruining what I think is an excellent career.

But thats only my opinion!

I'm not sure if Karl really cares about anything but his chance for the scoring record and a championship. I doubt he'll ever get the respect he truely deserves from the fans or most of the basketball world, so i dont think he cares about his legacy too much.

damn... noone will evr truly recognisae how great he was... ummm how great was he for the NBA????

I dont even know cause I dont repsct him as much as im sposed to...

OK get ready for a long post:

After his rookie season, malone would play 980 out of the next 984 games (until the lockout season). Think about that for a minute. Shaq has had trouble the past 4 years playing 60 games a year, and malone only missed 4 out of 984. Amazing

2 time nba mvp (dont underated this accomplishment. 2 time mvp is somthing only a handfull of nba players can say they've done)

11 time all nba 1st team member, 2 time 2nd team, and one 1 time 3rd team.

14 time allstar, with 10 straight appearances, and two time all star game mvp.

Malone has the record for consecutive seasons with 2,000 points, at 11. considering you have to be around 26 ppg or higher to get 2000 points, and for malone to get this 11 STRAIGHT years is amazing.

All time leader in ft's made

2nd to kareem in points overall.

7th all time in rebounds

The only knock on him is no championship, and to me he has a free pass on this becuase he ran into the greatest player of all time in jordan twice. Malone was just unlucky.

And although he never won a scoring title, look at some of his ppg averages from some seasons:

27.7 ppg (3rd season)
29.1 ppg (4th season)
31.0 ppg (5th season)
29.0 ppg (6th season)
28.0 ppg (7th season)
27.0 ppg (8th season)

4 times he was 2nd to jordan in the scoring race(89, 90, 91, 92).

To put it simply, he is the best powerforward in nba history.

Great post Matt, Malone is one of the best players in NBA history. This is going to sound reeeeaal strange, but do you know where I honestly want him to go? Miami!

Could you imagine what the day game will be like then? Now that there is "beef" between Kobe and Karl? In the grand scheme of things I think the best overall choice would be to play with my boy Timothy the Great down in San Antonio but man, I want him in Miami!

Imagine how Robert Horry would feel if Malone went to san antonio, consideiring malone took his spot in la . I'd love to see him goto Miami, just to make the east that little bit better. The way he playoffs are structerd (and especially after the pacers suspenions) it will probably be detroit/ miami in the conference finals. Add malone to the mix in miami, and its a dead heat imo, which means it will come down to on or two miraculous plays.

With the way some of the greats have donned different uniforms as their careers wind down and/or to chase after that elusive ring, I don't think the Mailman would hurt his legacy by choosing to play on or signing with a third team. As much as I like to see players finish their careers having played for just one team, with the amount of player movement and the lure of jumping ship, even some of the great ones change allegiances.

While New York wouldn't be so bad, I too would like to see Malone pack his bags for Miami, San Antonio or Utah. The Heat and in particular the Spurs could offer him the possibility of earning a ring, but a reconciliation with the Jazz offers a different kind of "storybook ending". It would be interesting to see his role though. While he would likely start in Miami, he'd most likely be coming off the bench in San Antonio and Utah, at least part time.

With the way some of the greats have donned different uniforms as their careers wind down and/or to chase after that elusive ring, I don't think the Mailman would hurt his legacy by choosing to play on or signing with a third team. As much as I like to see players finish their careers having played for just one team, with the amount of player movement and the lure of jumping ship, even some of the great ones change allegiances.

While New York wouldn't be so bad, I too would like to see Malone pack his bags for Miami, San Antonio or Utah. The Heat and in particular the Spurs could offer him the possibility of earning a ring, but a reconciliation with the Jazz offers a different kind of "storybook ending". It would be interesting to see his role though. While he would likely start in Miami, he'd most likely be coming off the bench in San Antonio and Utah, at least part time.

Just his presence alone would do so much for Carlos Boozer, imagine the wealth of knowledge he has to share!

Every legend i can remeber who switched teams in the twilight of their careers didnt tarnish anything,in any sport. people dont think less of MJ after his return. sir charles finished his career in houston. Wilt the stilt was traded as was moses malone later on in their careers. these guys careers were never looked back upon badly. the only sport you have to have a ton of longevity on is baseball in order to be considered great,which i think is kind of sad,its hard to see former all stars play utility positons in their last 2-3 years. then again theyre rich so i dont feel to bad.Karl definetly has longevity playing until age 42,nothing he does now or in the future will tarnish how great he was in the nba.

i wonder if TD or KG will replace Malone as GOAT @PF

i wonder if TD or KG will replace Malone as GOAT @PF

You know what? I think they're both well on their way to acheiving just that, we may all have our favorite out of the two (I'm a Timothy man ALL the way!) but you've got to love their chances.

Know what's funny? Why doesn't Sir Charles' name ever come up that much when talking about GOAT at the PF position? To me, he's right up there with the Mailman.

Barkley was never a good defensive player, as he's admitted himself.

But why are we blaming Jordan for him not having a ring? You can also blame Hakeem, Clyde Drexler, Barkley, Shawn Kemp and the other teams that knocked the Jazz off in the Playoffs when they didn't even make it out of the West. Jordan was just responsible for two of those many years.

I'm not "blaming" jordan. I have no doubt in my mind that if Mike wasn't around in 97 or 98, the Jazz would have been champions, so I give him a pass when it comes to the championship arguement. Nobody looks any less on payton for losing to jordan, or barkley, or kemp, or stockton, or ewing.

But why are we blaming Jordan for him not having a ring? You can also blame Hakeem, Clyde Drexler, Barkley, Shawn Kemp and the other teams that knocked the Jazz off in the Playoffs when they didn't even make it out of the West. Jordan was just responsible for two of those many years.

Barkley was never on a playoff team that beat Malone's Jazz. He was close in 98, in the first round, but thats it.

You know what? I think they're both well on their way to acheiving just that, we may all have our favorite out of the two (I'm a Timothy man ALL the way!) but you've got to love their chances

If Duncan keeps up his numbers the next 5 or 6 years, i dont think I'll have a choice, I'll have to rank him ahead of malone. KG to me has to be a little bit more consistant in the playoffs. He had a nice run last year but losing in the first round just doesnt cut it.

Know what's funny? Why doesn't Sir Charles' name ever come up that much when talking about GOAT at the PF position? To me, he's right up there with the Mailman.

I'd be interested to see if someone can make a legitimate argument for him . To me, Malone did what Barkley did and exceeded it, and did it for a longer period of time. Plus on the defensive side of the ball malone was better.

good god i hope malone doesn't head to NY.. i would love to see him go to san antonio or miami, or even indiana

i'm a knicks fan and honestly, I really don't think NY is a good fit for Malone. Sure he will help this year , and maybe next, but knicks aren't really championship contenders, and the fast pace up tempo offense the knicks been trying might not suit Malone
Miami, San Antonio (duncan@C), And Minnesota ( KG@SF), Utahare the teams Malone should consider...I'd prefer to see him in Miami with Shaq, see if they can win it all since they will have 2 anti-kobe fans in there starting line up.

utah would just be a a good ol' welcome home ending just like seattle would be for payton.

Isiah calls Malone....

Old School Fool calls Hell

I heard on a Lakers forum that Jim Grey said during halftime of the Utah-Portland game that Malone will retire from the NBA after talking to his wife.

Becuase of Kobe?! My god!

But seriously, I hope he doesnt give it up unless his body cant take it anymore. He's very close to the scoring record, i'd love to see him break it.

Every legend i can remeber who switched teams in the twilight of their careers didnt tarnish anything,in any sport. people dont think less of MJ after his return. sir charles finished his career in houston. Wilt the stilt was traded as was moses malone later on in their careers. these guys careers were never looked back upon badly.

Moses Malone is a great example. He seemed to represent a different team every year at the All-Star game, though at least a couple of times he made the switch himself via free agency.