Andrei Kirilenko is young and he"s not from around here, but he knows his NBA history.

He knows what an opportunity it is playing alongside Karl Malone and John Stockton -- and against the likes of Michael Jordan.

He also knows those opportunities won"t last forever so he"s trying to soak up all he can from them now.

""Maybe it"s the last year for him (Jordan) or maybe for Karl and John Stockton, and I must listen and learn and look because it"s a good experience," Kirilenko said. ""Stockton and Malone and Jordan, they are among the greatest players of the century."

That"s why, when the 39-year-old Jordan tried to school Kirilenko Thursday night at the Delta Center, the 21-year-old Russian rookie was a willing student.

""Of course Michael Jordan is a great player," Kirilenko said. ""He is experienced, he is smart.

""Sometimes he grabbed me, he tried to push me and I just tried to play him. He"s good, but I must learn from him."

The Jazz used five different defenders on Jordan in that game, but he seemed to attack Kirilenko the most aggressively.

On one shot early in the second quarter, Jordan pulled out a whole arsenal of moves -- jab steps, spins, pump-fakes -- all in the same sequence before launching a high-arching turnaround jumper over the rookie, fading away from 18 feet out.