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Before long, Karl Malone will have scored more points than any player in NBA history except Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Wilt Chamberlain and Michael Jordan. He is the perfect basketball machine -- tall, powerful, swift and determined. If players could be produced on an assembly line, Malone would be a prototype.
Like writing called Hemingway and music called Beethoven, basketball called Malone.
Or did it?
``. . . We all live for a reason," Malone said, ``and I love what I do for a living. Some say that's why God put me here -- to play basketball. But I don't necessarily believe that."
Instead, Malone believes his basketball ability is a high-profile means to a more significant end.
``It's a great avenue," he explained. ``. . . But personally, I think I was put here to make a difference in a lot of people's lives."
Mission accomplished, for The Salt Lake Tribune's first Utahn of the Year.
Malone has become as Utahn as anyone living along the Wasatch Front.
``He loves a family atmosphere," said his wife, Kay. ``. . . and everybody ties Utah with family. You go to New York and people probably talk business and careers. But here, people talk about their families -- their children. He likes that, and people in Utah respect him for it."
Basketball has taken Malone from a small, crowded house in rural Louisiana to a palatial home in the Salt Lake City foothills. Malone recognizes the long journey he has taken since arriving in Utah 12 1/2 years ago.
``Because of who I am and because I'm from the South," he said, ``there could have been barriers. But I came in with an open mind and tried to treat people like they treated me."
It worked.
If Malone ran for governor, he might not win.
Then again . . . ``I've been accepted here," he said. ``I've had a chance to grow as a person -- away from basketball, just for being me."
Many have witnessed the growth.
The Senator: As one of the longest-tenured members of the U.S. Senate, Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) knows the importance of gaining and retaining the people's trust.
According to Hatch, Karl Malone has already cemented his place in the hearts of generations in Utah.
``It doesn't hurt to be one of the two or three best basketball players of all time," Hatch said. ``But beyond that, Karl and his wife are great human beings -- warm, caring, honorable, community-loving individuals. . . . They love their community and their community deservedly loves them."
Hatch notes Malone has been known to stop at a kid's lemonade stand on a broiling summer day and pay $100 for two cents worth of refreshment. He also once quietly handed $100 bills to two homeless men in Atlanta. Beyond that, he is involved in causes such as Special Olympics and last August created the Karl Malone Foundation for Kids.
He once paid to help refurbish the gym at an inner-city high school in New York and visited the boys basketball team after learning that the team's female coach had used him as an example of what hard work can do.
``He constantly goes out of his way to help people," Hatch says. ``He has been criticized over the years by some people. But he has always taken it in stride. In that respect, he is a man's man -- somebody you can look up to."
Hatch often sits at courtside for Jazz games at the Delta Center. More than once, Malone has exchanged high-fives with him after an outstanding play.
``Those are my most memorable moments with him," Hatch said. ``He'll come up and we'll slap hands. Or I'll be looking the other way and he'll pat me on the back. . . . He's a super player and a super down-home person, too."
The Father Figure: Karl Malone grew up without a father, though ex-coach and current Jazz President Frank Layden became something of a substitute after he decided to ``bring a Mailman to Utah."
With those words, Layden told a cheering crowd at the Salt Palace that the Jazz had used their first-round pick in the 1985 NBA draft on Malone.
For the future Hall of Famer and a once-laughable franchise, it was a blessed union.
``He came to Utah with a lot of potential and a lot of room for development," Layden said. ``And when he got here, he had an opportunity to play right away in a small community where everybody knew him and everybody wanted him to succeed."
Malone seized the opportunity and grew into manhood, on and off the basketball court.
``He's really emerged over the years," Layden said. ``Not only as a player, but as a human being. . . . In an age where we are very critical of our athletes and we see so many problems with them -- like O.J. [Simpson] and [Latrell] Sprewell and all the others -- Karl Malone is a hero."
It is not a word that Layden often uses.
``This guy isn't throwing people through plate-glass windows," he continued. ``This guy is saving lives. . . . Obviously, I'm glad he developed as a basketball player. But the other thing -- developing as a man -- is going to serve him better in the long run."
Credit Malone.
And credit Malone's mother, Shirley Turner, who for years worked three jobs to provide for her nine children. Karl, the second youngest, quickly learned the value of hard work and facing adversity.
``It wasn't easy for him," said Layden. ``He had to earn everything. But ask him and I'll bet all those struggles made his success even more satisfying. I mean, if everything had been handed to him on a silver platter, it wouldn't have meant as much. That's the way he is."
The CEO: First, Karl Malone was a Zion's Bank customer. Today, he is one of the company's most visible employees.
Malone is featured in TV and newspaper ads every day, and his face is on billboards around the state.
Why?
``A couple of things struck us about Karl," says Harris Simmons, chairman of the board and chief operating officer of Zion's Bank Corporation.
``One, he has an enormous heart. He is very generous. In a quiet way, he gives deeply to many kids and to many families.
``Two, we see Karl as a very value-based individual. And, as everybody knows, that resonates well in this community."
Like Layden, Simmons believes Malone's upbringing is a factor in his success in basketball and, apparently, advertising.
``Somebody once said you can tell a lot about someone by the way they treat their mother," Simmons explained. ``You see that in this case.
``The respect Karl has for his mother is obvious. She bent over backwards to raise him the right way, and he returns that respect. . . . He is an extremely loyal man, and that's another one of his trademarks that made him appealing to us."
Malone is also loyal to his college, Louisiana Tech. He donated upwards of $100,000 to the school's weight-room renovation.
The Owner: Larry Miller bought into the Jazz two months before Malone was drafted. Starting when Miller would watch Malone play in the old Salt Palace and spend hours talking with him in the parking lot of a fast-food restaurant late at night, the team owner has had one of the closest views of Malone.
Miller occasionally becomes frustrated with Malone's play and knows that any Malone references in the media to ``management" are directed at him. Yet he admires Malone's ``courage to take the shot," knowing he just wants the Jazz to succeed.
``He'll face the storm," Miller says. ``If he thinks it's right, he'll make the stand."
Discussing how Malone has blended into the community, Miller says, ``He wants people to like him or dislike him as a man, not an NBA star. Karl will run the risk of being out there" in public places.
Miller will never forget Malone's friendship with Danny Ewing, who died of leukemia last yaer at age 13. ``That was real," Miller said.
The College Coach: University of Utah Coach Rick Majerus knows the inherent difficulty in recruiting African-American athletes from far-away locations to this mostly white, mostly conservative state.
That's one reason why Majerus observes Utah's love affair with Karl Malone and applauds.
``The thing about Karl," he says, ``is that he's outgoing -- he's not aloof. He's got a wife and kids. He seems to realize it's a wonderful life out there. There's a genuineness about him, a good heartedness. People in Utah appreciate him for what he is -- a down-to-earth guy."