LOS ANGELES -- Karl Malone had arthroscopic surgery on his right knee this week and will decide during the summer if he will return for another season.
Malone's agent, Dwight Manley, on Thursday denied reports the second-leading scorer in NBA history was set on retiring.
"He definitely hasn't made a decision if he's retiring," Manley told The Associated Press from his Newport Beach office. "At this time, I'd bet that he plays, personally."
Quoting sources, The Salt Lake Tribune and Los Angeles Daily News reported that Malone, who turns 41 this month, had decided to end his career.
"The retirement reports are way out there - wrong," Manley said. "It's Karl Malone, he'd play with an amputation. People know if something hurts, he'll play through it."
Manley said Malone had surgery Tuesday and "the doctor was more than pleased."
"He's up and around today," the agent said. "His whole body is 100 percent. At this time, what he really needs is what he's needed every offseason - just to get away from basketball."
Los Angeles Lakers spokesman John Black said "our understanding about the possibility of retirement is he's going to take his time and make a decision toward the end of the summer."
After playing 18 seasons for the Utah Jazz, Malone joined the Lakers last summer in search of his first championship, taking a pay cut of about $18 million to sign for $1.5 million.
With Malone playing a key role in the postseason, the Lakers reached the NBA Finals before losing to the Detroit Pistons in five games.
Malone reinjured his knee in Game 2 of the Finals, was limited in Games 3 and 4 and didn't play in Game 5. The Lakers lost the last three games.
Malone said after the Finals that he would make a decision on his future in the summer, but would play only if he were fully healthy entering training camp, which begins in three months.
Jazz owner Larry Miller said Malone told him after the Finals he was going to have surgery and then planned to announce his retirement, but apparently things have changed.
Miller, who recently returned from England, said he was flooded with calls Thursday, prompting him to call Malone.
Malone's wife, Kay, told Miller that Malone was resting. She also said the surgery went well and her husband had no immediate plans to announce his retirement.
"I think Karl may have changed his mind," Miller said. "My guess is from what Kay said, if he can answer the bell, and be in the condition and level that he was, he'll forgo the retirement."
Malone opted out of his $1.65 million contract with the Lakers at the season's end. But he had made it clear that if he returns, it almost surely will be with the Lakers. That was before Shaquille O'Neal requested a trade and Kobe Bryant became an unrestricted free agent. Malone grew close with both players during the season.
Malone played in 1,434 of a possible 1,444 regular-season games with the Jazz, but missed 40 games with the Lakers - 39 because of a torn knee ligament he sustained Dec. 21 against Phoenix.
He played in 193 straight playoff games with the Jazz and Lakers before sitting out Game 5 of the Finals.
Considered one of the best power forwards in NBA history, Malone averaged a career-low 13.2 points and 8.7 rebounds in 42 games for the Lakers this season, leaving him with career averages of 25.0 points and 10.1 rebounds.
His 36,928 points in 1,476 games trails only Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who finished his career with 38,387 points in 1,560 games.
Associated Press Doug Alden contributed to this story from Salt Lake City
The Augusta Chronicle ©2012 Morris Communications, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Back
