Malone the drama queen

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/columns/story?columnist=bucher_ric&id=1942450

This is certainly nothing new. Malone has routinely taken great offense to
slights, real and imagined. Remember when he made it known that his hotel or
transportation at the '97 All-Star Game were beneath him? Remember how he
lost his taste for All-Star Games altogether when Kobe then waved off his
pick?


Malone and Jazz owner Larry Miller routinely jousted, the dispute always
being that Miller was taking Malone for granted. It was either an insulting
contract offer or ignoring his trade demands or disrespecting him with a
skit last January in the Delta Center that insinuated Malone missed being in
Utah.


I chalked all that up to being in a small market and the lid coach Jerry
Sloan keeps on individualism of any kind. Malone's transformation when he
reached L.A. seemed to confirm that notion. He not only took an $18 million
pay cut to join the Lakers, he accepted $1.5 million while Gary Payton took
the bigger available free-agent slice of $4.9 million. His thin-skinned
reaction to questions deemed critical disappeared. He subjugated his game
without complaint, so much so that Kobe felt compelled to remind him he was
the league's second all-time leading scorer. He openly talked about his and
the team's struggles. He talked about how incredibly blessed he felt simply
to be playing. He sounded sincere -- and secure.


He doesn't sound like that anymore. He sounds like someone who feels he's
being overlooked again, which is extraordinary -- and a little sad -- coming
from an 11-time All-NBA selection, two-time league MVP, 14-time All Star and
member of the league's 50 Greatest Ever Team.

Truth is, Kobe's comments were exactly right. Malone is being unfair to the
other Lakers by not making his intentions known. They are a young team
coming together. It would help them to know if a player of Malone's caliber
will be joining them. In fact, it's easy to hear Malone in his team-leader
days saying the same about someone holding the Jazz hostage.

Besides, what's left to ponder? Manley says his client has recovered 100
percent from surgery and is ready to go. Who puts himself through the kind
of rehab required to play again, at 41, and then opts to retire anyway?

Every indication from Malone, meanwhile, is that he doesn't want to move his
family or play for another team. If he wanted the best shot at a
championship, he would've signed up with San Antonio months ago. If he
wanted to be a big fish in a smaller pond, he would've gone to Minnesota. If
he wanted to play last year's role, he could've gone to Miami.

So why not simply end all the goofy intrigue? (And if it weren't still a
mystery to everyone, including the Lakers, Kobe never would've felt
compelled to say what he did.)

This comes off as another ruse to squeeze every last bit of courtship and
love from all concerned. Malone even reopened the door that Manley slammed
shut, essentially saying he wouldn't use such "strong words" about not
returning. Which means for the right amount of additional love he'll go
ahead and do what he planned all along.

No matter what Malone does, his official accomplishments as a player won't
be diminished. His place among the 50 Greatest is secure. He'll have a
plaque in the Hall of Fame. But in the unwritten annals, in the minds of
those who keep their own scorecards on what players were, this latest little
outburst assures that his thumbnail sketch will include: Great Player. Manly
Man. Drama Queen.