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SALT LAKE CITY — There you have it. The king of consistency, pushing 50, on time, dressed in a suit, and built like one of Michelangelo's Greek sculptures.
Karl Malone has always been an imposing figure, whether he was putting David Robinson night-night, squaring off with Charles Barkley in a classic battle of wills, or wrangling with Jazz ownership (as a player and as a retiree).
I like being home. I guess the (NBA) Hall of Fame got five years, I guess the Utah Hall of Fame got eight or nine.
–Karl Malone
What has made Malone the greatest power forward in NBA history (sorry Tim Duncan, you have always been a center) was the insatiable need to compete.
"I never said play to win, I played to compete and do it the right way." said Malone.
Malone has talent, but it's his hyper competitiveness that makes him great. Malone will compete in everything. Specifically, the arrival to a press event before his partner, "I'm excited I beat him, he'll be shocked when he walks in."
Stockton fights back to the mild rib,"I had to walk outside, he probably had a limousine. That's why I'm a little bit tardy."
Both players remembered pushing each other to train harder, longer and with more dedication during their playing days, "We competed even when we wasn't together."
"My training in the summer, I wanted to compete against him and probably vice versa. There's a number of times we'd call each other and I'm an hour difference, so that is how I sometimes beat him to the draw."
We're pretty much connected at the hip both emotionally and career wise. That connection, I'm glad to have it, thrilled to have it and it will never change.
–John Stockton
"I think about him when I'm working out in the weight room." said Stockton, "Back when we were playing we'd call each other at odd hours of the night and say ‘Are you working old man?' That's what I feel even though we don't call anymore."
Both Stockton and Malone have been retired for nearly a decade, but both sit at their playing weight "I'd like that body fat to be the same. I think I'm redistributing that, but I'm staying the same weight."
Malone stays in shape to be able to continue his passion for hunting. "You can't chase those moose and elk and deer up a mountain, now I'm getting into bow hunting you gotta be pretty close."
If Malone laced up his sneakers, it would not be an incredible stretch of the imagination, "If my life depended on it, which it don't, but if it did... I could play a little bit, but there would be a lot of fouls and I'm going to foul you hard."
Stockton still plays a lot of basketball, but tends to be of the pick-up variety. He know's his NBA playing days are over. "I'm pretty sure I couldn't guard the speedy guys out front, but I'm also sure that Karl could. He has the strength and size and talent to get it done."
Malone has always been approachable, affable and opinionated. It's gotten him into trouble at times, but you can always count on Karl for performance and a sound bite.
Stockton is reserved, polite and self-depricating.
As large and commanding as Malone's physique is, Stockton is the yin to Malone's yang. Undersized, underestimated, and the owner of the greatest basketball IQ in NBA history, Stockton still finds time to compete on the court, "I can still pass it to the right guys and run up and down the floor a little bit, but I can't guard any of my kids anymore except for Samuel and he's 11 and they can guard me with ease. It's a frustrating turn of events."
So it is only natural that both players are inducted into the Utah Hall of Fame at the same time,
"I like being home." said Malone, "I guess the (NBA) Hall of Fame got five years, I guess the Utah Hall of Fame got eight or nine."
Stockton said, "We're pretty much connected at the hip both emotionally and career wise. That connection, I'm glad to have it, thrilled to have it and it will never change."
Stockton doesn't share much of his personal life, he moved to Spokane, Washington after he retired, but speaks lovingly about Utah, "No question that this is still home. You can't beat where your family is and my family is back home in Spokane and that is where we moved back to and I love it there, but I miss it here and this is a home away from home and probably a little more special than that secondary part, maybe associate homes."
When streets are named after you and statues are erected in your honor, the Utah Hall of Fame is a formality, but it's an opportunity to celebrate the two most recognizable sports figures the state has ever seen.
At least on this night, it was a tie.
