Jazz forward Karl Malone said former Nugget Nick Van Exel could have shown more leadership after forward Antonio McDyess was sidelined because of an injury.

"If I would have pushed hard enough, I'm sure I could have left when we were 10 games under .500," Malone said. "But I said to myself, 'I want to get over that and beyond.' The same with Nick. I'm not running his life for him. But he's the leading scorer, the floor leader. Guys look up to that. What would stop that from spreading to another young fella?"