Utah’s Marvelous Malone Continues To Reshape Position Of Power Forward

At an age when many dominant athletes consider retirement, 33-year-old Karl Malone is playing his best basketball and giving the Utah Jazz their best shot at an NBA title.

In virtually redefining the position of power forward over a 12-year career, the durable Malone has missed only four of 971 regular-season games. Friday night, in a 106-79 victory over Vancouver, he extended his league record for consecutive 2,000-point seasons to 10.

Malone, who will be 34 in July, never has stopped polishing a game that now combines the bruising strength of his early years with a more refined shooting touch.

“I want to improve every year, add a little more to my game,” Malone said. “I want to be remembered as a well-rounded player …”

The 10-time All-Star’s Friday night start was his 73rd straight this season, and 458th consecutive appearance overall.

“I want to get everything I can out of my talent,” said Malone, who is averaging 27.8 points per game, second only to Chicago’s Michael Jordan (29.8). “I feel I’m getting better.”

Since the All-Star break, traditionally a time for a Jazz slump, Malone has kicked his game into overdrive, averaging 30 points on 58 percent shooting as the Jazz have gone 23-3, improving their season’s record to 56-17.

The result: Utah will make its 14th straight playoff appearance, an NBA string second only to Portland’s 15, and appears a shoo-in for its first postseason as the Western Conference’s No. 1 team.

That translates to homecourt advantage through the first three rounds of the playoffs - and a chance to finally advance beyond the Western Conference Finals, where the Jazz have come up empty three of the past five seasons.

It might be Malone’s last shot.

“I want to continue playing at this level and get the most I can out of what God gave me, with the group of guys we’ve got … and (they) are playing at a high level, too,” he said.