Bryant Gets Irate Mail

Karl Malone answered the phone at his Arkansas ranch with a sigh.

It was late, he was tired, and he could explain.

Earlier Tuesday, he had read a transcription of Kobe Bryant’s statements that essentially likened Malone’s redwood of a comeback attempt to an irksome splinter.

Malone was so upset, he worked a stair climbing machine for an hour.

“At level 14,” he said. “I mean, I was blindsided.”

And now it is the Lakers who have been sucker-punched, losing their most credible locker room presence and strongest inside force for a most

familiar reason.

Karl Malone says he will not be returning to the Lakers because of Kobe Bryant.

For those keeping score at home, the kid just won the alienation triple crown

“The bottom line is, Kobe Bryant doesn’t want me to play for him, and it’s his team,” Malone said. “You’ve got to be wanted, and he doesn’t want me there.”

On the surface, Bryant’s radio comments do not seem to warrant such strong reaction. But don’t be fooled. This is about more than that.

Bryant’s words represented only a final shove, with Malone speaking as if Bryant had been pushing him out the door for weeks.

“When I see that situation there, I would love to play with those young kids, are you kidding me?” Malone said. “But when your main player doesn’t want you, I don’t have time for all that.”

There has been talk of how, unlike some teams that have phoned Malone every day, Bryant rarely spoke to Malone during his rehabilitation from knee surgery, even though they live only blocks apart.

When they did speak recently, according to agent Dwight Manley, their conversations were not pleasant.

Malone, an old-fashioned sort who refused to publicly criticize Bryant, is clearly not thrilled that Bryant speaks as if he is the team’s player-coach, talking about his teammates “giving me 110%.”

Also a sensitive sort, Malone undoubtedly wonders why Bryant has not publicly supported him the way Malone was often the only player who publicly supported Bryant amid the sexual assault allegations.

Their issues culminated, according to Malone, when he was read Bryant’s statements on the “Loose Cannons” show on XTRA radio.

“He doesn’t want me here, he made that known today, he told me through the press,” Malone said.

Among other things, Bryant said of Malone, “I don’t think he’s coming back.”

Malone says he feels great and could return soon, with the leading candidate now reportedly being the San Antonio Spurs.

Bryant also said of Malone’s comeback, “It’s not really fair to hold it over the guys’ heads that are here.... It’s kind of tough for them to be looking over their shoulder, wondering if he’s going to come back.”

Bryant sounds as if Malone were holding out instead of working out. He acts as if waiting for Malone wasn’t worth the effort.

The truth is, when Malone is ready, Bryant should agree to carry him to Staples Center on his back, because Malone’s presence is -- or was -- the only

way these Lakers have a

chance to make any noise in the playoffs.

“No disrespect to anyone, but this wasn’t an equipment guy saying this,” Malone said. “This was the player who you gave your franchise to. I can read between the lines.”

The Lakers were quick to separate themselves from Bryant’s comments, highly unusual for a family organization that unconditionally supports its players, but good for them.

“Kobe did not at any time state that Karl was not returning, nor was Kobe speaking on behalf of the Lakers management or organization,” the statement read.

Too late. Too bad. In this instance, Malone is going to be as intractable as he is under the basket.

While some Bryant backers will be quick to call Malone a baby, anyone who hung around the Lakers last year knows that he was one of the few who was decidedly not a baby.

He ignored every little pain. He willingly faced every question. He publicly backed every teammate.

It was his first year on the team, but he was already its leader, and even owner Jerry Buss believes the Lakers would have won the championship if he didn’t finish the season with an injury.

And about Bryant’s feud with Shaquille O’Neal? Malone was the only one who didn’t take sides, and still won’t.

“I look at the whole scenario, and the whole thing could have been done differently, by everybody,” he said.

He will, however, say one thing about the fallout.

“I don’t want to throw daggers at anyone, but I would have quit my job before I traded Shaquille O’Neal,” he said. “I would have been unemployed before I would trade him, and that’s all I’ll say.”

When O’Neal left, it took him more than a week to officially thank the Laker fans.

Malone did it Tuesday without even being asked.

“I don’t care about the money I made there, it was nothing compared to what the Laker fans gave me every time I walked off that court,” he said. “I love them. I appreciate them. And I want every one of them to know it.”

A third future Hall of Famer, a third farewell, these goodbyes getting as old as Kobe Bryant’s act.

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Bill Plaschke can be reached at bill.plaschke@latimes.com. To read previous columns by Plaschke, go to latimes.com/plaschke.