Malone Upbeat Despite Misses

CHICAGO — Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown. Unless it happens to be Karl Malone’s head.

“I slept really well last night,” the NBA’s elected most valuable player said Monday. “I went to bed, after seeing my wife and kids, about 12:30 and I woke up about 10 today. I got me a great, great rest, read a little bit of the newspaper.”

No doubt noticing the headline that read:

“That’s an MVP!”

As in, Michael Jordan is because he made the 19-footer at the buzzer Sunday night to give the Chicago Bulls an 84-82 victory in Game 1 of the NBA finals and Malone isn’t because he missed two free throws with 9.2 seconds left that would have put the Utah Jazz ahead by two and meant Jordan’s shot was for a ticket to overtime.

So it goes for Malone, who got the MVP award this season for the first time--and then got the expectations that accompany it.

“Would I change it?” he said. “Absolutely not. Have my two or three weeks been unbelievable? Yes, it has. I haven’t had time to reflect on it, but I’m proud of that aspect of it. It’s behind me now. What I don’t want to do is try to go out and play up to the MVP. That’s behind me now.

“Yeah, it’s a lot more pressure. But like I said, I’m not a guy that has a lot of excuses.”

Note

Julius Erving is close to a deal to become a vice president with the Orlando Magic, according to broadcast reports.