http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=1990848


As the last few awesome (on and off court) players like Malone go, the NBA steadily slips into complete and total ruin.

I cannot help but see a common thread between Malone's career summary and many other great players like Patrick Ewing:

About the only thing missing in his career is a title ring, which he missed out on in three trips to the NBA Finals. Malone and Stockton led the Jazz to the 1997 and '98 Finals, losing to Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls each time.
It had to suck to be a great player during the Jordan era. Good luck getting a ring when he was winning (basically) 6 in a row.