ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, April 6, 1997 TAG: 9704080019
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-7 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: SALT LAKE CITY
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
At 33, Karl Malone keeps on trucking, averaging 27.8 points per game.
At an age when many dominant athletes consider retirement, 33-year-old Karl Malone is playing his best basketball and giving the Utah Jazz its best shot at an NBA title.
In virtually redefining the position of power forward over a 12-year career, the durable Malone has missed only four of 971 regular-season games. Friday night, in a 106-79 victory over Vancouver, he extended his league record for consecutive 2,000-point seasons to 10.
Malone, who will be 34 in July, never has stopped polishing a game that now combines the bruising strength of his early years with a more refined shooting touch.
``I want to improve every year, add a little more to my game,'' Malone said. ``I don't want to be known as a player who just scored. ... I want to be remembered as a well-rounded player.''
The 10-time All-Star's Friday night start was his 73rd straight this season, and 458th consecutive appearance overall.
``I want to get everything I can out of my talent,'' said Malone, who is averaging 27.8 points per game, second only to Chicago's Michael Jordan's 29.8. ``I feel I'm getting better.''
Since the All-Star break, traditionally a time for a Jazz slump, Malone has kicked his game into overdrive, averaging 30.0 points on 58 percent shooting as the Jazz have gone 23-3, improving their season's record to 56-17.
The result: Utah will make its 14th straight playoff appearance, an NBA string second only to Portland's 15, and appears a shoo-in for its first-ever postseason as the Western Conference's No.1 team.
That translates to home court advantage through the first three rounds of the playoffs - and a chance to finally advance beyond the Western Conference finals, where the Jazz have come up empty three of the past five seasons.
Malone knows the opportunity, coming so late in his career, might not come again.
``I want to continue playing at this level and get the most I can out of what God gave me, with the group of guys we've got ... and [they] are playing at a high level, too,'' he said.
One of them, All-Star guard John Stockton, always has been low-key about the dynamics of one of the most productive and enduring scoring tandems in NBA history.
``We just love to play,'' said Stockton, who, at 35, is the NBA's career assists leader. ``We keep ourselves in good shape and come ready to play. ... It's nothing special; we just work hard and it's worked out well.''
Jazz coach Jerry Sloan, seldom given to superlatives, says simply that Malone ``is playing the best basketball of his career.''
The Mailman, so-called because he delivers, believes he is in the best shape of his life. Few argue.
``In the past I could score 30 points and get 15 rebounds and be dead tired,'' Malone said. ``Now, I score 30 points and get 15 rebounds and I'm ready to go again because I'm letting the game come to me.''
Always known for his scoring and rebounding, he has worked to expand his basketball repertoire. Over the past two years, for example, Malone perfected his fadeaway jumper, perimeter shooting and passing, accounting for five assists per game this season - up from three at the end of the 1994-95 season.
In March, he was the NBA's Player of the Month, leading Utah to 14 wins in 15 games. He also joined Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Wilt Chamberlain, Moses Malone and Elvin Hayes as the only players to score 25,000 points and grab 10,000 rebounds.
LENGTH: Medium: 72 linesby CNB