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From 2005, here’s the ESPN SportsCentury episode featuring Karl Malone. You can read the accompanying story here.

It’s been nearly a decade since Karl Malone last played for the Jazz, amazingly. This clip looks back on his career shortly after his retirement following the 2003-04 season with the Lakers that I try to forget ever happened. As much as I don’t like the Lakers, I hated to see him get hurt in December of that season and never fully recover—even though he still basically carried that dysfunctional team until he finally couldn’t play in Game 5 of the Finals against the eventual-champion Pistons.

Re-watching this clip, I couldn’t help but feel lucky that I got the chance to follow Malone’s entire career. He gave Jazz fans more than our fair share of amazing moments and never took a game off. It’s absolutely amazing that he only missed 10 games in 18 years with the Jazz. Enjoy the clip and relive a remarkable career and life of a complicated man.

I’ve been meaning to post this for months, but a leaked Adidas catalog for retailers shows the throwback jerseys NBA teams will wear during the 2012-13 season. The Jazz purple mountain jerseys made famous during the Finals runs of the mid-90s will be available as part of the Hardwood Classics series.

Retro jerseys for the Bucks, Bulls, Hawks, Heat, Kings, Pacers, and Suns will appear on-court, while vintage 90s jerseys for the 76ers, Cavs, Raps, Rockets, and Jazz will be available in stores.

I always hated the mountain jerseys, but there’s no denying the throwback appeal. Besides the Bulls and Pacers, every one of these represent terrible design decisions–but the garish look is awesome in retrospect.

On-court Hardwood Classics: