The Salt Lake Tribune is reporting Karl Malone's reaction to two recent rumors and it's not a pretty picture.  Malone was reacting to a story by He-Who-Cannot-Pass-Up-A-Good-Rumor-If-There-Might-Be-A-Bad-Pun-In-It in the New York Post that "unless management is somehow able to upgrade the roster core, look for him (Malone) to demand a trade to a championship contender before too long." The Tribune suggests that Peter Vecsey may have been listening to Olden Polynice's agent on this one.  As for Malone, he's totally dismissive:  "Rumors, they're all just rumors," Malone said. "You hear stuff all the time in this business. Everybody's name gets brought up."

But the rumor that really seems to irk Karl is the one on an Internet site started by some unidentified "highly placed source" that Malone didn't work out this summer.  Thank goodness it wasn't RealGM or JazzFanz.com -- "After playing here for 17 years -- for somebody to make a statement like that and not say who they are -- that's no respect," Karl said. "Me not training, that's like a Hershey candy bar without chocolate. It just doesn't happen." Becoming increasingly agitated, Malone continued, "If you say something like that, put your [self] on the line and say who you are. If you've got something to say about the way I train or don't train, be a man about it. You say that and don't put your name on it, I call you a punk. I don't care who you are. You do that, you're a punk."