Malone Again on First Team

Even Michael Jordan and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar never accomplished what Karl Malone did Tuesday--make the all-NBA first team for the 11th time.

The Utah Jazz forward, winner of the NBA’s most-valuable-player award this season, was the leading vote-getter on the team with 580 points and 113 first-team votes from a panel of 118 NBA writers and broadcasters. He finished four points ahead of Tim Duncan of the San Antonio Spurs, who had 576 points and 112 first-team votes.

Also voted to the first team were Alonzo Mourning of the Miami Heat, Allen Iverson of the Philadelphia 76ers and Jason Kidd of the Phoenix Suns.

Malone’s 11 first-team appearances are a record.

Jordan, Abdul-Jabbar, Elgin Baylor, Bob Cousy, Bob Pettit and Jerry West each made it 10 times.

Laker center Shaquille O’Neal was voted to the second team and guard Kobe Bryant made the third team.

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Larry Johnson of the New York Knicks and his team each were fined $10,000 by the NBA because Johnson twice failed to make himself available to the media following team practices last Friday and Sunday. . . . The NBA is investigating whether the Dallas Mavericks should be held liable for salary-cap violations because Don Nelson, the team’s coach and general manager, arranged for Gary Trent, his fiance, their infant son, Trent’s parents and his fiancee’s mother to spend a week at his vacation home in Maui. Nelson said he hoped the vacation would serve as a goodwill gesture to the 6-foot-8, 250-pound forward whom the Mavericks are aggressively trying to re-sign. . . . Baltimore is actively pursuing an NBA team to play in a proposed $200-million, 19,000-seat downtown arena, a city official said.