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Karl Malone: the NBA's fittest man is ready for a new title. How's action hero sound? - Interview - Cover Story

Men's Fitness, Feb, 2004 by Jon Finkel

KARL MALONE IS A MAN OF MANY HATS. HE HAS scored 35,000 points, 10,000 rebounds, 4,000 assists, and 2,000 steals. His workouts are intense, which helps explain his longevity in the league. Add to that his love of trucking--he's an avid trucker who spends his off-season hauling cargo across America in his customized 18-wheeler. The 40-year-old also owns a logging company and did a World Championship Wrestling stint. And he tried to add photographer to his ever-expanding resume.

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"I've looked at your covers," he announced just minutes into the MF cover shoot, "and I've got some ideas. Let's shoot it in the shower!" Bold. Minutes later, the real photographer, art director, photo director, two assistants, and thousands of dollars' worth of lighting equipment were crammed into a hotel bathroom. The 6'9", 259-pound Malone squeezed himself into a shower, turned it on, and, while still wearing his bikini-style underpants, offered creative suggestions like, "Let's try and get my jersey in the shot, too, guys" and "Don't flush the toilet." (The photos were "lost" in transit.)

But maybe his need to build on so many careers is understandable. He did, after all, just take an $18 million pay cut to leave the Utah Jazz in favor of a shot at a championship with the L.A. Lakers. "I'll never recover from that" he said of the first time he saw his new paycheck. "But I think about what the fans up in the rafters are making, and it makes me play harder"

Are you, Shaq, Kobe, and Payton the greatest talent ever assembled on a basketball team?

If you look at us on paper, yeah.

Could you beat the '97 Bulls?

I think we have a great chance to make our own mark. It's going to be tougher on this team than any other because we're not going to get any breaks.

How often do you think about the Hall of Fame names you blow past as you fill up pages of the record books?

When I passed Wilt Chamberlain on the all-time-scoring list, I thought to myself, "I can't believe I just passed Wilt." But I don't get caught up in it. I think of my numbers now as uncharted territory--let's see what happens.

Are there any pre-game rituals you credit to your success?

I used to cut up bananas in yogurt, but now I like mostly watermelon.

Does that mean you're on some kind of special diet?

No. I see some athletes where they keep up with their calories and their intakes. I'm not like that. I eat when I want to eat. If my little boy wants to go to McDonald's, I'll get in the car and grab fries and a coke. I don't count calories or write out what I eat. I just work out hard enough that, if I'm craving something, I eat it and know I'm going to burn it off the next day with extra intensity.

Hollywood's favorite action hero, The Rock, is 6'5", 255. But at 6'9", 259, you make him look tiny. Any chance you'll be kicking in doors on the big screen?

I'll be the new action star one day. The Rock is good, but I'll be great. I want to do some kind of military movie where I rescue POWs or something like that. I need some kick-ass movies. I mean kick a lot of ass.

Like martial-arts, Matrix-style ass-kicking? Or old school, knocking guy's heads off and blowing stuff up?

Schwarzenegger/Steven Seagal kind of kicking ass. Blowing stuff up, too. Just breaking shit, that kind of stuff. And I'd like to do my own stunts. They need a black superhero--that's what I'll be.

What about crazy-man Wesley Snipes? He's all action. And black!

Yeah, he's all right, but he's little. They need a bigger-than-life kind of guy--and that's me.

Lots of special effects?

Not too many. I don't want to jump from right here [pointing to the place he is sitting that you can see] and be 10 miles down the road when I land. None of that. But I'd like to use big machine guns, like .50-caliber guns sitting on top of a Hummer ... everything fully automatic.

Speaking of kicking ass, you wrestled in the WCW in a tag-team match with Diamond Dallas Page. Was it hard to take a fake hit after years of taking real poundings in the NBA?

Oh, no, man. There's not a lot of fake in a wrestling hit at all. It's real. I have a great deal of respect for those guys. Even if you know it's coming, you still hit that damn mat real hard.

What was the toughest move you had to learn?

The body slam is the hardest thing to do and take. A guy picking all of someone like me up and slamming you on the mat, that's the toughest part. The mat can sting if you don't have your back rounded out like you're supposed to.

Uh, Karl, as one of the greatest power forwards ever to play the game, and as one of the soon-to-be-greatest black action-movie stars, why are your toenails painted with polish?

I was lying on the couch dozing off one night, and my kids painted them black. I went out the next night and scored 40-some points. I was like, "Shit, I'm old school. I'll do whatever I got to do to keep it going." So I've kept them painted.

KARL'S CONCENTRATED WORKOUT

Do it yourself. Mailman-style.

[right arrow] Cardio

* I've done up to two and a half hours of straight cardio--an hour of bike, an hour of Stairmaster, and maybe 30 minutes on the elliptical machine. I don't do any running.

Karl Malone: the NBA's fittest man is ready for a new title. How's action hero sound? - Interview - Cover Story

Men's Fitness, Feb, 2004 by Jon Finkel

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