Frank Layden, continued taking the risks when he drafted me 16th pick overall. I'll never forget Hot Rod Hundley's announcement when it was received by the fans with a mixture of "who?" and boos.
I think they wanted somebody else. I have to be the only draftee, in fact, I almost guarantee it, the only draftee that was still living at home with his parents at the time of the draft.
So he was way out there on a limb. I learned a lot from him before he turned the reins over to Coach Sloan.
Now Coach Sloan is what the NBA should be about. Committed to your teammates, your coaches, your organization and the game of basketball, he's never asked for credit. In fact he avoids it.
His record speaks for itself and he's created an environment for his teams to win and they do. I am fortunate to have played for you coach, congratulations again.
We were both fortunate to have Phil Johnson and the other coaches as well as a long list of committed players to compete with. I see Mark out there, Thurl I think, Tyrone, Jeff, just to name a few.
Tremendous guys to play with. It was an honor to compete with you day in and day out. Now one guy I should mention, it's Karl Malone.
He can't be here tonight. Yeah, Karl Malone. With all due respect, David and Tim, but the greatest power forward that ever played the game.
He can't be here tonight. He had an illness in the family, so I'll continue on by saying he was our best player for 18 seasons and he drew a lot of attention.
I wish he was here tonight drawing a little bit of attention. I used to tell him it's mighty lonely up here but I'm going to save this tuxedo and press it up for next year for him.
