Karl Malone reveals why he has no remorse whatsoever about the two NBA Finals defeats they suffered at the hands of Michael Jordon and the Chicago Bulls.
Karl Malone and the Utah Jazz squared off against Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls two times, In the NBA Finals in 1997 and 1998. Both times they were defeated. Malone acknowledged how hurt he was by the loss. Malone believes he and his crew conducted themselves professionally, so he doesn’t feel guilty about it.
KUTV 2 News cited Malone’s statement, “I’m not bitter. I tip my hat to the Chicago Bulls as a competitor like I am. But they won. How do you handle defeat? Yes, after losing twice the championship, I better have a lot of character in defeat. But I have to because that never defined me as a human being and a man. I’m a man. That sport never defined me. I loved it. It’s the most competitive profession you can be in, in my opinion. But you have to put it in proper perspective. I never said, ‘Do you know who I am? I am Karl Malone.’ Nobody gives a sh*t at the end of the day,”
As per followers and pundits, Karl Malone is among the finest athletes who have never captured an NBA Championship. Specifically, this list has been reviewed several times in this day and age of ring mentality. Malone doesn’t appear to find this bothersome. He believes it is important that despite the hurt of losing, he and the Jazz conducted themselves professionally and as real rivals.
Malone stated, “I hate that we lost. But how we handled ourselves as professionals and characters, we gave credit where credit is due. But so many playoffs when we just kicked your as*, they had excuses. Our team, coach Sloan, coach Johnson, coach Leighton coach Natt, we had no excuses, and we gave credit. That’s class because we were proud of our team. We tried to do it the right way, and I think we did.”
Was Malone implying that the Bulls were the team that made excuses after being beaten into a bloody pulp? As per the record, the Bulls suffered their two heaviest defeats by a combined score of 11 points in Game 3 of the 1997 NBA Finals. The Jazz, meantime, suffered a 42-point defeat in Game 3 of the 1998 NBA Finals. This show has been ranked as the worst ever in the NBA Finals.
Malone refrained from shooting Jordan and the Bulls as a result. He could have been referring to their previous adversaries, who, in contrast to them, weren’t elegant in the loss. They because of this, they cannot be recognized as historical figures like Malone and the Jazz
