Karl Malone and John Stockton Inducted into Utah Sports Hall of Fame

It’s been nine years since John Stockton and Karl Malone ran the pick-and-roll for the Jazz, and somehow, they had yet to make it into the Utah sports Hall of Fame. Until now, anyway. (Malone and Stockton were inducted last night.) Reports the Deseret News: “Both appeared fit enough, if not quick enough, to again play for the Jazz. Talk about a plan: Retire rich, keep your health and skip the game day shoot-arounds. ‘If my life depended on it — which it don’t — but if it did, I could play a little bit,’ Malone said. ‘But there’d be a lot of fouls. And I’m gonna foul you hard, by the way.’ The occasion was the annual Utah Sports Hall of Fame banquet, held at the venue most familiar to Stockton and Malone. They were part of a five-member induction class that included NFL and BYU tight end Chad Lewis, BYU distance runner Doug Padilla and BYU javelin-thrower Richard George. While Lewis, Padilla and George are deserving athletes, the night clearly was a Stockton-to-Malone event. When you honor the two most famous basketball players in the state’s history, it’s a spectacle. On a national scale, the Utah hall is a small deal. Stockton and Malone were NBA All-Stars a combined 24 times. Both are in the Basketball Hall of Fame and on the list of the 50 greatest players in league history. So it’s hard to imagine Tuesday’s affair was their career highlight. Yet both acted as though it were their first award, saying they were honored and humbled.”