All of that was tied to his hard individual work, and it wasn't just Pippen who gave Malone his flowers in that department.

Karl went on to miss two freebies that set the stage for "Air Jordan" to play hero yet again. After the game, most of the talk centered on what Pippen told Malone prior to his free throws.

Karl Malone spent 19 seasons dishing out bruises and taking them right back, so by the time 2004 rolled around, there wasn't much anyone could say or do to make him second-guess his style.

with Utah Jazz forward Karl Malone, Indiana Pacers guard Reggie Miller, Houston center Hakeem Olajuwon, Orlando Magic center Shaquille O'Neal, Chicago Bulls forward Scottie Pippen, and guard John ...

LeBron James scores 38 in the Lakers' loss and moves past Karl Malone into 2nd place on the NBA's career scoring list. He now trails only Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.