Mailman’s Delivery - SPORTING CHANCE By Joaquin M. Henson

The Philippines will always be close to Utah Jazz star Karl (The Mailman) Malone’s heart. That’s because Malone was particularly close to his late Filipina mother-in-law Celestina Ellorin Kinsey of Munoz, Nueva Ecija. A family insider said Malone employs a lot of Filipinos in his various businesses which include three car dealerships.
It’s not widely known that the cremated remains of Malone’s mother-in-law were brought to Barangay San Felipe in Munoz by her son Ken and scattered in the ricefields where she grew up.

Andy Jao and I met Malone’s in-laws during our coverage of the National Basketball Association (NBA) Finals in 1997. Mrs. Kinsey–she asked us to call her Cely–and her husband Bob spoke with us after a game at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City. She introduced us to her youngest daughter Karla and told us to give her a call when next we came into town.

Andy and I were back in Salt Lake City for the Finals a year later but couldn’t get in touch with Mrs. Kinsey because she was taking care of her daughter Kay, Malone’s wife, who had just given birth to a fourth child, Karlee. We subsequently found out that Mrs. Kinsey was suffering from colon cancer. She died last July 1 at the age of 59.

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When Mrs. Kinsey learned she had cancer, Malone took care of moving her from Idaho Falls, where she lived, to Salt Lake City to be near him. The Mailman arranged for her treatment at the University of Utah Medical Center and the Huntsman Center Institute.

"Karl was very fond of ‘Lola’ and he thought she was a very special person," wrote Mr. Kinsey in an e-mail to The STAR.

It was former San Miguel Beer import Stephen Howard’s Filipina wife Javin who tipped us that Mrs. Kinsey’s ashes were brought to Nueva Ecija. Javin is in close contact with Malone’s wife–they share common Filipino roots. Howard and Malone were once Jazz teammates.

"Celestina wanted her ashes scattered in the fields where she grew up," said Mr. Kinsey. "She enjoyed playing in the fields that surrounded the barrio. She said that she remembered everyone singing and laughing in the fields when she was young. She wanted to be left in a place where she had very happy and enjoyable memories. Of course, we know that she is still with us."

Mr. Kinsey was stationed at Clark Air Base when he met his future wife. They were married here on Sept. 2, 1961. A year later, they moved to San Antonio, Texas. After years of traveling because of shifting Air Force assignments, they settled in Idaho Falls in 1983.

"She had a never-ending supply of wisdom and advice that she shared with all of her children and friends at any given moment," said Mr. Kinsey. "Her beautiful smile and sparkling eyes let those around her know they were truly loved. She loved all of her grandchildren dearly and always had happy thoughts and kind words to share with them."

The Kinseys are blessed with four children and eight grandchildren. Mrs. Kinsey is survived by her brother Mercedio and sisters Molet Orpilla and Ibang Antolin.

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A few months ago, Malone donated a boxful of personal stuff to auction at a US Embassy Club fund-raiser in the Philippine Plaza Hotel. When Malone was told the US Embassy in the Philippines would stage a bazaar for charity, he sent over such auctionables as Jazz caps, basketball posters, key chains, mouse pads, stuffed toys, a framed certificate of his MVP award in 1998-99 with his autograph and a signed pair of his size-16 shoes.

In all, Malone’s goodies were packed in six baskets which went for a minimum bid of P1,000. As expected, the basket with Malone’s shoes fetched the highest bid–P10,250. Malone’s merchandise brought in about P20,000. The entire bazaar collected over P1 Million. Beneficiaries included the Friendship House (a shelter for streetchildren), Home of Joy (an orphanage for ill and abandoned children), Peace Corps livelihood projects, local disaster relief centers, and children of US Embassy Filipino employees (for scholarships).

Malone, 37, was picked by The Sporting News as one of "99 Good Guys in Sports" last year for donating $200,000 worth of supplies to Navajo Indians and paying off the home mortgage for a family with four sick children. In 1997, he established the Karl Malone Foundation for Kids "to create a sense of well-being and stability in the lives of children who are suffering from illness, injury, isolation, abandonment, poverty and misfortune" in the International West.

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Last year, Malone publicly admitted that 19-year-old twins Cheryl and Daryl Ford are his children. The Mailman confessed that he had a brief relationship with Bonita Ford, a high school basketball player, when he was 18.

"I was raised by my granddad and my mom," said Malone. "My father committed suicide when I was five. I was bitter for a long time. But I learned something from it. If you ever have the opportunity to make things right, do it. I had a chance to do something about that for the twins. I told the twins. ‘What me and your mom did was a mistake, but you guys are not a mistake. I want to be part of your life. I want to be a dad and a friend."

Cheryl averaged 19 points, nine rebounds, and three blocked shots for the Monroe Magic in the Amateur Athletic Union 18-and-under Girls Basketball National Championships last season. A US Junior Olympic player, she is a freshman athletic scholar at Louisiana Tech, Malone’s alma mater.

Early this month, Malone became the NBA’s second all-time leading scorer, behind only Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. If the Mailman continues to deliver about 23 points a game, he’ll surpass Kareem’s record of 38,387 points in four years.

Malone recently criticized the NBA for ignoring the durable veterans (like himself) to shower attention on the brash "New Generation" stars like Allen Iverson, Steve Francis, and Gary Payton. He said fans are turned off by the antics of Iverson and his hop-hop ilk and called on the league to bring back the virtues of sportsmanship, fair play, integrity, discipline and hard work on the court.

Malone is the perfect model of an athlete whose stardom hasn’t gone to his head. This Christmas season, it’s timely to reflect on the Mailman’s example.