Mailman's new route: Could coaching be in Karl's future?

Fish? Hunt? Wrestle bears in Alaska?

Jerry Sloan is not sure what Karl Malone will do next.

But the Jazz coach does know what he hopes ex-Jazz star Malone, who will formally announce his retirement from the NBA on Sunday, will not do.

"I don't want him to take my job," Sloan said.

Don't laugh.

The Jazz have no formal plans to bring Malone aboard as a coach, Sloan said Friday night.

Still, he suggested, while the 41-year-old retiree may not be ready to take over the reigns of an NBA team, Malone just might be coaching material.

"Karl, if he's available — we'd draw on his knowledge," Sloan said. "If he felt comfortable, . . . I'd not be afraid to lean on him."

Sloan says what he does, though, knowing that Malone has had a long list of post-retirement career goals over the years — from police officer to politician to general manager or even owner of his own NBA team.

"Probably the biggest thing," Sloan said, who also knows Malone owns property in Alaska, "is to get away from basketball completely, which he has done, . . . and stay away from it a while and then see where he is after that.

"Then," the Jazz coach added, "he can get back to coaching or whatever he wants."

Asked if he thought Malone would make a good coach and if he would want him to do that, Sloan did answer affirmatively.

"I do," the Jazz coach said, "because he worked to change a lot of things, and he wasn't the polished player when he came here. He had to make himself a better player by understanding what's going on out there in a game.

"He realized what hard work was all about," Sloan added. "Some players don't realize how hard it is to go do the things he did every day. . . . I think he understands what it takes to play."

Relating that to others, however, can be easier said than done.

Yet Sloan thinks Malone could make the transition.

"Coming in and coaching without any experience — it's always tough," he said. "But I think he would get people who would help him. . . . I don't think his ego would cause him not to be able to do that."

It's even be suggested Malone might make a good tutor for the 23-year-old now filling his former power-forward position in Utah, Carlos Boozer.

"I'm sure there's probably some things Carlos could learn from Karl," Sloan said. "That would be up to the player."

Boozer's respect for Malone is immense.

"He's goes out there and works hard every night, puts up numbers every night," Boozer said. "Carries his team.