Something Is Still Missing for Malone

Karl Malone is learning that he can’t always get what he expected when he came to the Lakers. Such as a uniform, for example. Or playing with Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal.

There are times when Malone’s 18 years of NBA experience and his 36,374 points don’t seem to matter at all. There are moments when he feels like a rookie or some fringe player trying to make the squad.

Before Tuesday’s exhibition game in San Diego, Malone’s uniform wasn’t hanging in the locker room among the rest of players’ jerseys. It was as if he had been waived along with Koko Archibong and Maurice Carter. It turned out his No. 11 (he’s wearing his Olympic team number because his preferred No. 32 is retired in Magic Johnson’s honor) was on the floor, across the room from his seat.

Finding playing time with Bryant and O’Neal won’t be so simple.

Bryant, shuttling back and forth to the preliminary hearings for his assault case in Colorado while recovering from knee surgery, hasn’t played in the first three exhibition games. O’Neal sat out Tuesday’s loss to Phoenix and is out indefinitely because of a bruised heel.

From the day he arrived at training camp, Malone admittedly was nervous about leaving the familiarity of the Utah Jazz to join new teammates and learn a new offensive system. He candidly said that he felt butterflies the first time he pulled on his new uniform.

And now he’s getting antsy about lost opportunities to gain familiarity with O’Neal.

“I would like to start playing with Shaq,” Malone said Tuesday night.

“It don’t matter how good you are, how great you are, you still have to get to know each other and know each other’s tendencies -- when I look at you, this is when I’m going to pass the ball to you. I need all that. That’s what I’m concerned [about]. That’s what I signed here to do. He’s got little injuries that I think are getting better.”

Malone and O’Neal already have demonstrated a knack for finding each other with interior passes during their limited minutes together in the exhibition games and the times the media are allowed to watch practice.

“We have an unbelievable vibe going already,” Malone said. “I just want to play with him more. That’s one of the main reasons I signed here. Not just to play with him, to practice with him. The times we’ve been in practice together, we’ve had those same vibes. That’s what I want.

“It’s more than just learning the offense. I’ve got to learn my teammates all over. I know now what a guy used to feel like coming to the Jazz and he was new. I never really got frustrated, but now I can see what they felt like coming in, maybe on a 10-day [contract].

“That’s kind of how I feel. I want to start playing with the guys, plus playing hard. You kind of play like you practice. If you don’t practice hard, when you get in the game somebody starts to put a body on you, you ain’t going to play hard. Especially the young guys. You have to come to work. You have to play hard.”

He continued in a similar vein after practice Wednesday, expanding his scope to include Bryant, saying that it’s “disappointing” that the Lakers haven’t been able to work with all of their assets.

Others in Lakerland didn’t seem as concerned. The ever-confident Gary Payton said that if the Lakers want to make all of the doubts and the Kobe controversy questions go away, they can just get off to a 40-2 start.

The carefree O’Neal sang a verse from Dido’s “Thank You,” then held court on his heel injury and his contract extension. He didn’t seem worried at all, implying once again that he and the Lakers will be fine whether or not Bryant can play this season.

This is a franchise that doesn’t fret until the stakes rise in June.

“Yeah, but I started off in October,” Malone said. “That’s when I punched the clock, in October, and I believe in punching it all the way to June.”

Malone doesn’t know any other mode than hard work. It’s his occupation and his therapy.

After his mother died in August, he worked out for 40 consecutive days, sometimes doing up to three hours of cardiovascular exercises and three hours of weights. It shows in games and workouts, when the 40-year-old Malone beats kids half his age up and down the floor.

He must make some concessions to age, however. He could only stand and watch Tuesday when Phoenix Sun forward Amare Stoudemire spun around him and elevated for a dunk.

Malone’s game is based below the rim. He’ll shoot his fall-away jumpers and rely on his veteran savvy (and relentless complaining to the referees) to get to the free-throw line for easy points.

And he’ll try to feel his way around an offense that, for a change, doesn’t feature him. Coach Phil Jackson expects to use Malone about 35 minutes a night.

“There’s going to be nights where I don’t score in double figures, but so what?” Malone said after attempting six field goals and scoring seven points in the first exhibition game in Hawaii. “It’s part of it. I weighed all that before I got here, so I don’t have anything to prove. After 36,000 [points], that’s a lot of attempts. I just want to win. Whatever it takes for us to win this, bring our younger guys along, try to help them out, because I’ll be done with this thing pretty soon.”

So yes, the oldest Laker is also the most impatient, ready to get this thing started.

“I want to get on a winning streak here in preseason,” Malone said, “because I think that does have something to do with the regular season and how you start too.”

Malone’s start is the one normal thing about the Lakers’ preseason. The Laker staff has been hamstrung by Bryant’s status, mildly annoyed by O’Neal’s contract talk and reluctantly tolerant of his nagging injury, pleasantly surprised by Payton’s leadership and adaptability and disappointed with the younger players’ ineffectiveness in games.

Malone is on time, ready to work, exactly as expected. Just give him a uniform.

J.A. Adande can be reached at j.a.adande@latimes.com.