Utah Jazz: Mailman delivers even in retirement

Fans that watched the determination, desire and drive of Karl, "the Mailman," Malone over his 19 seasons in the NBA should not be surprised to learn he still has all those qualities. What may be surprising is what he uses as outlets for expressing them.

"Family," Malone said is his primary focus these days. "I figure I spent enough time away from them during my playing days that I can try to make it up to them. I enjoy just being home and spending time with them until they say, 'Dad, get out of here, you're bugging us,' and then I'll go on a hunt or something."

Malone was in Utah last week for the grand opening of his new Karl Malone Toyota Superstore in Draper. Besides a state-of-the-art car dealership, Malone also decided to use the building as a museum for some of the sports memorabilia he has collected over the years.

The shrine includes a couple of Olympic gold medals, a pair of MVP awards, plenty of odds and ends collected both from Malone's career and that of other athletes he befriended. But the highlight certainly has to be a signed pair of sneakers and jersey from each of the original 12 Dream Teamers.

"All this stuff was kind of scattered all over the place," said Malone. "I had some in boxes, some in garages, some in Albuquerque, some in Louisiana and some here. It just kind of started as a dream of mine to put it all in one place where fans of all kinds could come and enjoy it.

"The thing about having it all here (at the dealership) is, it isn't even about people that want to come in and buy a car. People just need to come and see all this and appreciate it. I wanted this to be something that people can come and think, 'wow, that is really something.' They are welcome to come even if they aren't looking at getting a new car."

That laid-back attitude is part of the new Karl. He is completely at ease with himself and all those around him. He isn't sure if being away from the pressure of the NBA life, or just taking more time to reflect has brought upon the new outlook, but he is happy with it.

"I've come to a place in my life where I just realized that if someone gets a little sideways with you, or they criticize you — so what," he said. "It don't matter. It just don't matter. Life is too short to be upset with people all the time. The only thing that really matters is if you can deal with it yourself, not what other people think or do."

One of the people that Malone said he sometimes "got a little sideways with," was Jazz owner Larry Miller. But after Malone's retirement, and the recent health issues for Miller, he said that all that was behind him.