NBA's Malone tells young people how faith shapes life Baptist Press Tuesday, September 14, 1999 BROKEN ARROW, Okla. - Utah Jazz power forward Karl Malone told a Baptist congregation recently that "two things are sacred to me – my family and my religion. I am never embarrassed by Jesus Christ. Without him, I wouldn't be in the position I am today." But the two-time most valuable player in the National Basketball Association says that when he's on the court in a confrontation with an opposing player he doesn't think about "what would Jesus do," a popular refrain that is used with many Christian youth groups. The competitive spirit "Maybe I should be," Malone said. "But when I step on the court, I look at everyone like they're my enemies. That's the competitive spirit coming out." The 6-foot 9-inch, 256-pound NBA veteran, who wears a size 16 shoe, spoke to a packed-with-youth family life center at First Baptist Church in Broken Arrow, Okla., about his life and his commitment to God and to his family. The 36-year-old Malone said he was reared, one of six children, in a single-parent home in Louisiana. As a Southern Baptist, he made a profession of faith at age 15. "It seems like we went to church at least four or five times every Sunday," he quipped. "If we were good, we got half a piece of chewing gum. If we were bad, Mom would pinch us and we'd eventually fall asleep." Malone said a crossroad in his life came when he was five years old. "I was sitting in my kindergarten class looking out the window when I saw my mother coming," Malone said. "She never came to school unless she wanted to see how we were doing or we'd done something bad, and she was there to whip our behinds."
Malone said he knew he hadn't done anything bad that day, but when his mother gathered his sisters and brothers in the car and headed toward home, he knew something was wrong. He said she told them that their father had committed suicide. "That was a crossroad in my life," Malone revealed. "I didn't forgive my father until six years ago." He added when something bad happens, "you can either feel sorry for yourself, or do something about it." "If I could spend 10 minutes with my dad right now, and as a result all my earthly possessions would be taken away, I'd say OK," said Malone, who will make $14 million a year on a just-negotiated contract. "That's how unimportant material things are." |
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