The basketball world was shocked when Karl Malone left the Utah Jazz in the summer of 2003 and joined the Los Angeles Lakers . It was difficult to picture The Mailman wearing a jersey other than Utah's However, the legendary forward felt it was time for a change.
The Mailman's choice
Many claim that the 14-time All-Star switched teams to boost his chances of winning a title. However, Karl had a different reason for this big move, which mostly concerned the other Jazz players.
"It would've been easy for me to stay in Utah and make 10 or 11 million and get the scoring record," Malone said , per the New York Times. "But I think I was holding a lot of guys back from getting their careers on track, so I made the decision to go to L.A. It was a financially costly one, but I don't look at it like that at all."
Karl made $19.2 million in his last season with the Jazz while earning just $1.5 million with the Lakers. The Lousiana native also said he wanted to "be nervous" and was looking forward to running out of the Staples Center tunnel. Despite failing to complete the four-peat, the Purple and Gold were still heavily favored to win the title.
While some key players have left, they still had Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant at the forefront. The concern then was how Karl would fit with the focal points of the Lakers' offense.
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Malone's expectations
According to the two-time league MVP, he had no plans to tweak his playstyle to fit alongside Shaq and Kobe. Karl wasn't going to be a mere role player who crashed the boards and defended. He wanted a bigger role in the triangle offense.
"Am I going to be competitive and want the ball?" he said. "Oh, absolutely. That's just nature. They didn't sign me to play 15 or 20 minutes a night. They told me they want me to play 30, 35 minutes a night. So I'm not going to turn into a rebounder and a defender. I'm going to adjust some, but I'm not going to change my whole game just because I'm playing with Kobe and Shaq."
Malone averaged 13.2 points and 8.7 rebounds in his lone season with the Purple and Gold. He also helped the team reach the 2004 NBA Finals. Unfortunately for The Mailman, the Lakers bowed to the Detroit Pistons in five games, and Karl retired without an NBA championship on his resume.
Related: "All of this is medicine to me" - Karl Malone perceived his Lakers tenure as a change in scenery after his mother's passing
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