Malone Has West in Tune : Utah Forward Scores 28 Points to Get MVP Award

It is an old story, one repeated so often by so many that it seems as if it the truth got lost in the translation. But Karl Malone, who told the tale again here Sunday, not only attested to its authenticity but effectively used it to make a point.

“When I first got drafted, we were in an elevator and a lady asked what we did,” Malone said. “We said we were Jazz players, and she said she was going to go around the corner and see us play. But the only thing around the corner was a nightclub.”

For those who did not know the occupation of Malone and his Utah Jazz cohort, John Stockton, they may have a better idea after their instrumental performances in Sunday’s National Basketball Assn. All-Star game. A record All-Star crowd of 44,735 and a national television audience, watched Malone score 28 points and get nine rebounds to earn the most valuable player award, and Stockton fill injured Magic Johnson’s role as playmaker to lead the Western Conference to a 143-134 victory.

Little seen outside the Mountain time zone, and rarely heard from now that the boisterous Frank Layden has retired, Utah was put on the NBA map Sunday, thanks to these Jazz players who improvised better than anyone during the league’s annual jam fest.

As in any All-Star gathering, the subplots were numerous:

--Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, playing in his 18th and final All-Star game, had to wait until the final 24 seconds before making his last skyhook in All-Star competition. He missed four earlier skyhooks and one three-point attempt.

--Seattle’s Dale Ellis proved himself worthy of a starting guard spot on the West roster, after all. Ellis, helped along by ballot stuffing from SuperSonic employees and fans, scored 27 points, making 12-of-16 shots.

--And, the All-Star game did, indeed, press on despite the conspicuous absence of Johnson and Boston’s Larry Bird. This one may not have rated high on the thrill-o-meter, but it had its moments, thanks primarily to Malone and Stockton.

Malone, matched against Philadelphia 76ers forward Charles Barkley, made his presence felt early. He made eight-of-nine shots in the first half, when the West built a 28-point lead that was too much for the seemingly more-talented East to overcome.

And Stockton, filling in as the West’s point guard in lieu of the injured Johnson, pulled off a rare triple-double. He finished with 11 points, 17 assists and 12 turnovers. Despite the occasional sloppiness, however, Stockton dictated the flow of the game as well as Johnson has in the past.

“I’m very honored to get this,” Malone said. “I guess for this one day, you guys (sportswriters) picked me as the best player in the world. It’s nice to get the recognition.”

Actually, the 6-foot-9, 250-pound Malone has become quite a presence. His 29.6 scoring average ranks second in the league behind Michael Jordan’s 34.3, and Malone ranks fifth in the league in rebounding with 11.4 per game.

But perhaps it took a vehicle such as the All-Star game for Malone’s talents to reach a wider audience. He already, it seems, has convinced his peers of his ability.

“Karl is incredible,” Portland Trail Blazers guard Clyde Drexler said. “To be that strong and that fast. He should be outlawed.”

Even the outspoken and ultra-confident Barkley admitted that Malone is a force not easily dealt with.

“People now gotta know the guy’s a monster player,” Barkley said of Malone. “You’d have to be an imbecile not to know this guy’s not a great player. Guys like him don’t grow on trees. I mean, the guy is averaging 30 points a game. That’s monstrous.

“But when you think about it, he had a bad day, if you go by his average. He’s averaging 30, and he only scored 26 (28, actually). That’s a bad day for him.”

Malone, as polite as Barkley is outrageous, spread the credit for his MVP selection, thanking everyone from Stockton to his mother to West Coach Pat Riley of the Lakers. All had a hand in making it possible.

Stockton, of course, fed the ball to Malone, as he usually does during the season. And Riley said that, without Johnson as his point guard, he might as well run a version of Utah’s offense and see what happened.

“Without Magic, we needed a playmaker supreme,” Malone said. “I would like to split this award right down the middle and give half of it to John. I guess he wanted to reward me for running the court. Every time, I got out on the (fast) break . . ., he would get me the ball. That’s how it worked today.”

Malone, however, made his own opportunities, as well. Midway through the third quarter, Malone stripped the ball from Boston’s Kevin McHale, who was posting low for a baseline jump shot. After Stockton retrieved the ball to begin the fast break, Malone filled the lane, scored a layup and was fouled on the play. He made the free throw, too.

Stockton played 32 minutes, more than any other West player. But he did not want to take the credit Malone gave him for running the offense and running the East off the court in the first half.

“Karl deserved this on his own. He works hard for every basket, you can see that. I just tried to play the best I could. I didn’t feel the pressure replacing Magic. I can’t replace Magic Johnson. Nobody can do that. Today was just one of those days when I saw the floor real well and everybody just anticipated the passes.”

Said Barkley: “I think John Stockton is a great player, a great guy. But he’s not Magic Johnson. He’s not 6-9. . . . But he’s a great player.

“I think they (the West) had an advantage with John and Karl playing together.”

There was a certain rhythm between the Jazz players that wasn’t there among other players, thrown together for this ad lib act.

Without the steadying influence usually provided by Bird, who missed his first All-Star game because of an injury, the East appeared ragged and even a bit disorganized in the first half.

The East, which shot only 40% in the first half, knew it might have been in for a long day when Dominique Wilkins, Barkley and Moses Malone all jumped for the same pass from Isiah Thomas. They crashed into each other, and the ball went out of bounds.

The East suffered other indignities. Wilkins missed an uncontested layup, got the rebound but missed a follow-up shot. McHale got Wilkins’ second miss and finally scored a basket. Wilkins, playing with an injured thumb, made only three of eight shots in 15 minutes of action. East Coach Lenny Wilkens approached Wilkins and apologized for not using him more, and Wilkins accepted.

“I have no problem with that,” Dominique Wilkins said. “I wasn’t playing well.”

According to Barkley, the East came out with a different strategy in the second half.

“We decided to score some points,” Barkley said.

Consequently, the West’s lead, which had swelled to 30 points in the first half, dipped to as few as seven in the fourth quarter.

The East did have some highlights, most provided by Jordan and Thomas.

Jordan, who tied Malone for high-scoring honors with 28 points, treated the crowd to his repertoire of dunks and gravity-defying inside moves.

His best might have come late in the first half, when Thomas found himself leading a three-on-none fast break, with Jordan and Barkley trailing him. Without looking behind him, Thomas tossed the ball off the backboard, whereupon Jordan executed a windmill dunk.

Thomas, who had 19 points and 14 assists, even set himself up for a spectacular play late in the third quarter when he drove through the lane, made what in effect was a lob pass to himself, caught it and flipped in a layup.

But even Thomas wasn’t flawless, commiting six turnovers. Maybe not having Johnson, his friend and motivating force, affected his play.

“We definitely missed the Magic show,” Thomas said. “He adds so much flair and so much excitement to the game.”

Except for possibly Denver Nuggets Coach Doug Moe, who said that the Laker center did not belong on this year’s All-Star team, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s participation in the All-Star game also will be missed. Abdul-Jabbar, who wasn’t sure himself that he should have been included, said he enjoyed himself, after all.

“I was happy to be a part of it,” Abdul-Jabbar said. “The way things worked out (for him to make the team) was kind of mystical. But it worked out, and we won for a change.”

Malone and Stockton helped make that possible.

“I read a story in USA Today that said this game wouldn’t be the same without Magic and Bird,” Malone said. “I cut that article out . . . on the plane ride to Houston and read it again. It inspired me. The NBA has a lot of great athletes, and I thought this was a situation where other athletes could really show themselves.”