Kirilenko should skip using the middle man

As you're probably aware by now, Andrei Kirilenko is unhappy these days. You already know this because Kirilenko aired his complaints in the media, which in turn told you. Just one question: Why tell us?

Look, it's not that we in the media are ungrateful or unappreciative. Believe me, if you want to talk, we're glad to listen — and then tell the world about it. It's what we do. You know the old line: If you haven't got something nice to say about someone, come sit next to me. That could be the media's theme.

But there are times when we're tempted to save people from themselves and tell them to just shut up because it's pointless or in the case of Karl Malone, nonsensical and ungrammatical but always a great setup for one-liners.

Gosh, I miss that guy.

But our job is usually not to save athletes from themselves; it's to tell readers what they said, if we can understand it ourselves, which, in the case of Malone, wasn't easy.

The way it works: They talk, we write.

If athletes want to use the media to air their gripes about their teammate, coach, owner, manager, ball boy, whatever, we're happy to listen. Feel free to use us. It works both ways, and it's usually not a bad arrangement.

But you have to wonder why, for instance, Kirilenko complains in the media about the way his coach used him on offense?

Why not tell Sloan?

Does he own a phone?

Does he need a translator, as Kirilenko's wife, Masha, once suggested.

Kirilenko chose to tell the media how he felt about the Jazz and Jerry Sloan and even a teammate on a couple of occasions this season and then later sought to clarify any misunderstandings. Apparently, he bared his soul for a couple of Russian reporters recently, perhaps hoping that we have no Russian translators over here.

He said he wanted to score more points. He complained that there are no plays that allow him to do this. He blames his coach for not holding his hand.

"Utah could have gone even further if Sloan had offered me a helping hand," he said. Or shot the ball for him, whatever. He let it be known to at least one teammate that he wanted to leave the team. He said Deron Williams ignores "certain players" so he can score more points "since his contract obliges him to score."

In Sloan's Illinois country-boy vernacular, this is what is known as airing your dirty underwear in public.