The accusation is not exactly novel.
     
But Jazz star Karl Malone reacted angrily nonetheless Monday night after hearing he had been called "a dirty player" by New York Knicks coach Don Chaney.

"He just needs to count his days down, until he loses his job, and be unemployed," Malone said of Chaney, who took over as coach of the struggling Knicks when Jeff Van Gundy resigned earlier this season, and recently was rewarded with a new contract for next season.
     
"That's what he needs to do. That's what he needs to worry about. He don't need to worry about Karl Malone. He needs to worry about keeping a job.
     
"Here he's worried about me playing ? he needs to worry about what he's got to coach, and worry about them. That's what guys do: They put so much emphasis on other guys, and players, and (bleep) ? they ought to try to coach theirs. . . . (Bleep.) He's on borrowed time. Dead-man walking. Dead-man walking. Dead-man walking."
     
Chaney, whose Knicks beat the Jazz on Friday night, discussed an incident involving Malone and Knick Clarence Weatherspoon with New York writers on Sunday.