Malone trade rumor is all talk

In a good mood following a rare Utah Jazz blowout of an opponent Wednesday night, team owner Larry H. Miller explained the genesis of the whole overblown Karl Malone trade story.

As far as he can figure, at least.

According to Miller, the Jazz did make some inquiries about trading their superstar forward.

At Malone's request.

This all happened way back in early summer, which is the part that mystifies Miller, since he doesn't understand why it all shows up as news now.

There haven't been any recent inquiries or talks, he said, which makes the whole story somewhat dated.

"I was so surprised, I called Kevin (O'Connor, vice president of basketball operations) and asked him if there was anything going on I didn't know about," Miller said.

In case you missed it, the Malone trade rumor cropped up in the past week or so when first Peter Vecsey of the New York Post and then Ric Bucher of ESPN.com wrote columns quoting unnamed sources as saying the Jazz were trying to deal the Mailman, who is disgruntled over the current makeup of the team.

Apparently neither Vecsey nor Bucher made any attempts to verify the story by checking with the Jazz.

If they had, Miller would have been happy to tell them what happened last summer.

The Jazz owner explained that in recent years it has been customary for Malone to meet with him, coach Jerry Sloan and O'Connor after the season to evaluate where the team is headed.

"Every year, for the last three or four, Karl wants assurances that we're going to be able to sign free agents or make trades to have a legitimate shot at a title," Miller explained. "This year, especially after a discouraging playoff loss, he got very concerned with whether we could have a competitive team."

In the past, Miller always felt he could look his star player in the eye and assure him that they'd put a team around him. This year he couldn't do that.

"Until this year, I've been able to say, 'yeah, I think we can contend.' This year I said, 'I don't know. I think we can,' " Miller related. "I was not as definite with him as I was in the past.

"That opened the door for him to say, 'Well, I really want to win a championship.' "