Utah Jazz legend and NBA Hall of Famer Karl Malone will step on an NBA court once again, but this time to coach instead of play.
According to ESPN.com, the Jazz have hired Malone as a part-time consultant. Although he will work with several players, his main job will be to work with Utah’s two young big men, Enes Kanter and Derrick Favors, to further develop their post and shooting skills.
“With his success as a power forward in the NBA and the length of his career, he’s obviously got a lot to teach,” Jazz CEO Greg Miller said of Malone. “We’re fortunate that he’s now willing to make himself and his expertise available to us.”
Widely considered one of the most skilled big men of all time, Malone is also known as one of the toughest competitors the game has ever seen. The team hopes he can instill some of that mental toughness in the younger players as well.
“He’s always one that has been very tough mentally,” Miller said. “And when he talks about how he does that, it’s pretty fascinating to hear his methods.”
The Jazz could definitely use some help developing more of an inside presence, especially with their younger players, whom they plan to build the team around. Favors and Kanter, who were both first round draft picks, averaged less than 10 points and 8 rebounds per game this season. However, the pair did show some potential at times when they were given more minutes. Kanter even posted a 20-20 performance in one of his only starts in 2012-2013, so Malone does have some talent to work with.