Malone Is Facing a Deadline

Karl Malone continues to vacillate between retiring and returning for a 20th season -- with the San Antonio Spurs, not the Lakers -- although time is becoming a factor.

Spur Coach Gregg Popovich said he wants to make any significant addition to the team by the All-Star game Feb. 20.

“The more time that goes by, the more difficult it is,” Popovich told the San Antonio Express-News. “Regardless of whether it’s Karl Malone, if we were to make a trade, if we were going to add somebody, I would think you would have to make any changes to your team at the latest by then to give everybody time to integrate.”

The Spurs remain the front-runners if Malone decides to return, although the Miami Heat has also demonstrated an interest in Malone, with General Manager Pat Riley hoping to set up a meeting with Malone’s agent, Dwight Manley.

Malone played last season with the Lakers after 18 seasons in Utah.

*

Kobe Bryant has slipped in All-Star voting and trails Tracy McGrady by more than 100,000 votes for the top spot among West guards. Bryant, who previously had trailed McGrady by 50,000 votes, has 1.36 million votes in the latest update released Thursday by the league office.

McGrady’s teammate, Houston center Yao Ming, leads all players with 1.89 million votes. Shaquille O’Neal of the Heat leads the East with 1.82 million votes.

*

Forward Lamar Odom continues to insist he is getting the ball enough times and in the right places.

Odom averaged 17.1 points and 9.7 rebounds last season with Miami, where his favorite spot to set up was in the lower right post.

Odom is averaging 14.2 points and 10.5 rebounds with the Lakers.

“I’ve been seeing the ball in enough scoring spots,” Odom said. “When I usually get it, that’s where I get it, on that right block, where I can get started with my hook [shot].”

*

Odom offered a unique perspective when asked about the Lakers’ inability to win three consecutive games.

“I played on a team that lost 20 games in a row, where the average margin of victory was 20 points,” he said, referring to what was actually a 17-game skid during his rookie season with the Clippers in 1999-2000. “I played on a team that was at the bottom of the bottom of the bottom of the barrel. It’s just new here. It’s not confusing. We’ll get it together.”

*

The battle of barbs between Bryant and Denver Coach Michael Cooper appeared to end Wednesday night after the Nuggets’ victory.

“Kobe’s a great one, and it’s nice to hold him to 16 [points],” said Cooper, who is 2-5 as interim coach. “Still, at any moment, he could’ve went off.”

Cooper said his team held Bryant “in check” after Bryant’s 42-point effort in a Laker victory Jan. 2.