There?s discontent in Utah again. Jazz owner Larry Miller and Karl Malone are having trouble seeing ?eye to eye?. Tim Buckley and Rich Evans of the Desert News report that Miller refers to his squabble with Malone as ?a feud?. The longtime Jazz owner deemed a recent Malone rant the latest installment in a series of many delivered throughout the Mailman's 17-season NBA career in Utah. "Karl seems to have a need to have something to take issue with every year," Miller said. "But you know that. . . . Let's just say he who laughs last, laughs loudest. "Am I getting tired of it? Yeah. I've been tired of it for a long time. I'm tired of him going off unnecessarily, and making mountains out of molehills without stopping to see what's accurate."

Even though he wasn?t sure what he said to make Malone so angry, Miller didn?t back down. "I'm not going to stand by," he said, "and let him take cheap shots that are inaccurate, and not respond. "He's answered the bell every night he could. I've always said that on his worst night he's better than most guys on their best night," Miller added. "But for him to start making comments about loyalty and so on is ludicrous."

After the Jazz exit from the playoffs, Miller commented on Malone?s possibility of getting a contract extension by saying that "I don't know if Karl can play a year after next year . . . I don't know if he can't . . . Personally, I think it's too soon to talk to him about an extension . . . We need to see what Karl does next year." Malone stayed mum until last Friday, when he told KUTV-TV Ch. 2 this: "They might tell me how long I'm gonna play here, but they ain't gonna tell me how long I'm gonna play."