Karl Malone will never win an NBA Championship unless he leaves Utah. Even then, his career entered its twilight several years ago and the sun sinks lower with each season. Whether Malone or 40-year-old point guard John Stockton will don Jazz uniforms next fall remains a mystery.
For Jazz fans, a series of sobering questions creeps in the backs of our minds, haunting our sleepless nights. Extending a two-decade long playoff run seems the least of Utah’s basketball worries. Of greater concern is whether a relatively small market like Salt Lake can retain an NBA franchise, as payrolls grow ever larger in the Darwinian struggle for financial survival.
In 2001-02, Utah won 44 games, better than more than half the teams in the league. Yet few games saw the Delta Center reach its maximum capacity of 19,911. If fans lose interest now, imagine what dire straits the franchise will find itself in when the truly lean years set in.
Those losing seasons may lurk just beyond the horizon. If Stockton retires, the Jazz have either John Crotty or Rusty LaRue attempting to fill the shoes of basketball’s assist king. Jazz fans saw their hopes inflated last year, when Utah drafted promising Spanish point guard Raul Lopez. But Lopez tore a knee ligament, leaving his future in doubt.
Like Stockton, Malone’s marathon NBA run has spoiled Jazz fans. If Malone demands a trade, as some members of the media have speculated, the Jazz will lose the greatest breadwinner Utahns have ever seen. Yet few deny that Malone no longer possesses the ability to take over late in close games against good teams. This sad truth primarily explains the Jazz’s failure to pull out numerous tight contests this year, including three maddening playoff losses to Sacramento.
Despite his age, Malone still ranks far ahead of any other Jazz player. Donyell Marshall, the team’s second-leading scorer, received a one-way ticket out of the Golden State in 2000 because he never became the go-to guy the Warriors wanted. Marshall lacks the physical toughness, mental tenacity and killer instinct required to carry a team.
Whether Marshall will even return remains uncertain. He, along with Crotty, LaRue, Scott Padgett, John Starks, Quincy Lewis, Jaron Collins, and the disappointing Bryon Russell all have the opportunity to test the free agent waters this offseason.
Undoubtedly, the Jazz should not resign Starks, Lewis, Russell, or LaRue. What the Jazz do this summer depends a lot on Malone and Stockton. If they leave, owner Larry Miller will have cash with which to lure new free agents. Of course, no one knows whether a marquee player would sign with Utah. Lesser players like Shandon Anderson, Howard Eisley and Rony Seikaly have refused either to stay here, or to come to Utah, in recent years.
In deciding which current free agents to bring back, youngsters like Collins top the list. The Stanford grad will never be a real center, because he can’t block shots. Yet a spot at power forward may open up if Collins can add some muscle and refine his offensive game.
Padgett also deserves to be re-signed. He will never earn a starting position, but competitive teams require solid role players like Padgett, who emerged this year as Utah’s best pure shooter.
DeShawn Stevenson has one more season to develop before he and the Jazz reach a crossroad. Hopefully, Stevenson will continue to mature and earn significant playing time in 2002-03. If they Jazz are smart, they will make Stevenson the starting two-guard and force him to step up.
Finally, there is Andrei Kirilenko, the chosen one, the cornerstone around which Utah must construct its future. Attempting to describe Kirilenko’s raw talent and potential is like trying to catch lightning in a bottle. At the tender age of 21, Kirilenko represents the Jazz’s enigmatic future. Perhaps this boy from Russia will develop the talent that he teased Jazz fans with in 2001-02. Or perhaps he will simply lead us on, breaking the hearts of countless Utahns as other Jazzmen have done for years.
Largest of all looms the question of whether Utah can keep its only professional franchise. Though occasionally chastised in the media and by fans, Larry Miller remains a local hero. He prevented the Jazz from moving to Minneapolis in the mid-1980s. As the Jazz rebuild, and wins become scarce, fans may turn their backs in typical fair weather fashion. That would be the cruelest blow of all for the true believers. For us, the Jazz represent not wins and losses, but rather the hopes and dreams of a community.
James welcomes feedback at: [email protected].