They may have a bitter taste in their mouths from back-to-back dismal defeats, but otherwise the Jazz's two All-Star representatives ? Karl Malone and Andrei Kirilenko ? are feeling good about this weekend.
     
Malone will find time to play for the Western Conference team ? he was picked as a reserve by the coaches ? when he's not relaxing at his Arkansas ranch, visiting his ailing mother or carrying the Olympic torch.
     
He's hoping the NBA will show some understanding for his situation and allow him to skip some of the less-meaningful events of All-Star weekend, though in the past the league hasn't been incredibly sympathetic to anyone wanting to avoid such things as media availability sessions.
     
"I don't really anticipate a lot of understanding out of a lot of people," he said, realistically.
     
Malone also hopes to play a few more minutes than the seven he totaled the past two All-Star games.
     
Regardless, Malone said he plans on enjoying this year's event.
     
"Once I get there I always make the most out of it," he said, perhaps forgetting the year Kobe Bryant waved off his attempt to set a pick.
     
It has also been made semi-official that Malone will participate with longtime running mate John Stockton in the torch relay, though by late Wednesday there was still no word on when. According to one rumor, they would carry the torch sometime Friday.