SEATTLE (AP) Karl Malone was not with the Los Angeles Lakers for their game Friday night against Seattle, but the team didn't place him on the injured list as had been expected.

Malone, the NBA's second-leading career scorer behind Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, sprained the medial collateral ligament in his right knee Dec. 21 in the first quarter of a game against Phoenix and hasn't played since.

He is considered day-to-day, though the injury hasn't healed fast enough to help team officials determine when Malone might be ready.

``It's not a hopeful sign that Karl's going to come back the next day or another,'' coach Phil Jackson said. ``We're just going to look at it. We think it's a little too early for him and it doesn't make any sense to do anything right now.''

The 40-year-old Malone has never gone on the injured list during his standout 19-year career.

``Missing, seven, eight, nine games in one spell when I haven't missed that many in 18 years is discouraging,'' Malone said earlier this week. ``I feel like I'm letting people down. We want to make sure I come back when I'm supposed to, not a game or two too early.''

Jackson said the decision had to do with ``a lot of pride'' but he emphasized that the Lakers also held back because Rick Fox isn't ready to be activated after surgery on his right foot.

``It has to do with who's ready to come off the list and who isn't and what we have to do to improve this ballclub,'' Jackson said.

He was reluctant to say when Malone might be ready, saying doing so wouldn't be fair to the Mailman or Lakers fans.

``He's done everything and he's such a workaholic therapy-wise,'' Jackson said. ``It's probably impeding his progress. We just need to back off a little and let him heal a little bit.''