SALT LAKE CITY (AP) The Utah Jazz were fined by the NBA for a mock phone call that made fun of Karl Malone and teammate Kobe Bryant during a timeout of the Los Angeles Lakers' game at Utah last week.

Jazz president Dennis Haslam confirmed Friday that the team had been fined, but would not confirm reports that it was $15,000. The NBA did not return a phone call seeking comment.

``There's really not a lot to say. We had an incident, we sent an apology and the NBA has fined us,'' Haslam said Friday.

During a timeout during the game last Saturday, Jazz mascot ``Bear'' answered a fake call that was broadcast over the loudspeakers. The caller imitated Malone's voice and identified himself as ``Mail,'' saying he wanted to come ``home,'' L.A. fans were ``mean'' to him and the Lakers don't pass him the ball.

The call ended with the impersonated voice saying, ``I guess it could be worse. I could be Ko...,'' stopping short of saying Kobe.

Bryant had spent the previous day in Colorado, where he's facing a trial on a sexual assault charge.

Malone, who did not attend the game, was offended that the Jazz alluded to Bryant's sexual assault case in part of a joke.

``For them to put that out there about him, that's disrespectful,'' Malone said before the Lakers' home game against Seattle on Wednesday night. ``I will never, ever forgive them for this. No class at all.''

Malone, who played 18 seasons with the Jazz, is on the injured list and did not return to Salt Lake City for his first game as a Utah opponent.

Jazz spokesman Kim Turner, who also would not confirm the amount of the fine on Friday, said Malone's comments were the first negative feedback he had heard about the skit since the game.

``The Utah Jazz have extended an apology to the Los Angeles Lakers organization,'' Turner said Thursday, without elaborating.

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) The Utah Jazz apologized Thursday for a mock phone call that made fun of Karl Malone and teammate Kobe Bryant during a timeout of the Lakers' game at Utah last week.

Malone, who did not attend the game last Saturday, was offended that the Jazz alluded to Bryant's sexual assault case in part of a joke.

``For them to put that out there about him, that's disrespectful,'' Malone said. ``I will never, ever forgive them for this. No class at all.''

Malone, who played 18 seasons with the Jazz, is on the injured list and did not return to Salt Lake City for his first game as an opponent.

During a stoppage, Jazz mascot ``Bear'' answered a fake call that was broadcast over the loudspeakers. The caller imitated Malone's voice and identified himself as ``Mail,'' saying he wanted to come ``home,'' L.A. fans were ``mean'' to him and the Lakers don't pass him the ball.

The call ended with the imitator saying, ``I guess it could be worse. I could be Ko...,'' stopping short of saying Kobe.

Bryant had spent the previous day in Colorado, where he's facing a trial on a sexual assault charge.

``That kind of stuff there is like pathetic. If an athlete would have did that, we'd have been talking about it for the rest of the year on SportsCenter,'' Malone said before the Lakers' home game against Seattle on Wednesday night.

Jazz spokesman Kim Turner said Malone's comments were the first negative feedback he has heard about the skit since the game.

``The Utah Jazz have extended an apology to the Los Angeles Lakers organization,'' Turner said, without elaborating.

Later in the game, Jazz owner Larry Miller was handed a cell phone for a second call from the fake Malone and was cheered when he promptly hung up.

Miller did not immediately return a message seeking comment Thursday.

Malone said he had no problem with the Jazz poking fun at him, but the Bryant reference was in poor taste.

The Lakers return to Utah on March 8, and it is uncertain whether Malone will be able to play. His right knee has been slow to heal, and now it looks as though Malone will not be able to return until mid-March at the earliest.

``I guarantee you, I'll have the last say on this. You can print that. That little skit they did, it'll cost them. I guarantee you,'' Malone said.

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) The Utah Jazz signed center Mikki Moore to a 10-day contract Wednesday.

The 7-foot Moore, a five-year NBA veteran, has played in 154 career games, including 142 with the Detroit Pistons from 1998-02. He also played for Boston, Atlanta and New Jersey.

This season, Moore averaged 0.5 points in 2.5 minutes in four games with the Nets.

Moore's best season came with the Pistons in 2000-01, when he averaged a career-high 7.9 points, 3.9 rebounds and 14.2 minutes in 81 games.

He was expected to be available for the Jazz's game Wednesday night against Dallas.

Yesterday, the Utah Jazz passed on signing center Paul Grant to a contract for the rest of the season so they can could make another move that will likely come today.

"I think we're gonna do something," Kevin O'Connor, the Jazz's senior vice president of basketball operations, said Sunday.

One possibility mentioned is forward Mikki Moore, who is leading the NBDL with 9.0 rebounds a game while putting up 21 points per game, good for second in the entire NBDL.

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) The Utah Jazz waived center Paul Grant on Sunday.

Grant was approaching the end of his second 10-day contract with the Jazz, who would have been obligated to pay him for the season if they didn't waive him before the contract came up.

Grant did not play in Utah's 93-86 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on Saturday. He played in 10 games for the Jazz and averaged 2.5 points and 1.7 rebounds.

The 7-foot center was originally signed by the Jazz on Jan. 1 and waived on Jan. 6. He was signed to a 10-day contract on Jan. 8 and signed to a second 10-day contract on Jan. 18.

Utah Jazz forward Andrei Kirilenko, who has been out of action the past four games with a sprained right ankle, is likely to play in Monday's home game against the Los Angeles Clippers.

"The Jazz's plan, team spokesman Kim Turner said, is for Kirilenko to return when Utah plays host to the Los Angeles Clippers on Monday night at the Delta Center."

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) Karl Malone knows his first game back in Utah will be an event, even if he doesn't play.

Malone is still nursing a knee injury that's kept him out for more than a month. Rather than return to Utah, where Malone played his first 18 NBA seasons before signing with Los Angeles as a free agent last summer, Malone opted to skip the Lakers' road game against the Jazz on Saturday.

``Dealing with the injury and dealing with the return _ and not being able to play _ was putting too much on,'' said Dwight Manley, Malone's agent. ``He'd rather recuperate and avoid a lot of the hoopla.''

The Jazz planned on treating Saturday like any other game against the Lakers, but with Malone now on Los Angeles, there was bound to be more to it. Throughout last season and the early summer, there was much speculation that Malone would leave Utah in pursuit of his first NBA title, or maybe stay and complete his Hall of Fame career in Utah.

When he did finally sign with the Lakers, saying it was time for both he and the Jazz to move on, Utah owner Larry Miller tearfully wished him well.

Saturday's game was to be Malone's first in the Delta Center as an opponent and Miller was looking forward to cheering against him for once.

``Frankly, I was really curious to see what fan reaction would be,'' Miller said. ``But we're not going to get to see until March.''

The Lakers return to Utah on March 8. If Malone is healthy, Jazz fans will get their first live look at him in purple and gold. Malone also missed the Lakers' first game against the Jazz _ the Lakers won 94-92 in Los Angeles on Dec. 7 _ due to a one-game suspension for elbowing.

Malone has been out since Dec. 21, missing 15 games with what the Lakers are calling a sprained medial collateral ligament in his right knee. Manley said the injury is a torn MCL, not a sprain, and will likely keep Malone sidelined until after the All-Star break.

``It's a low tear, not a high tear, so it takes longer to heal,'' Manley said.

After traveling with the Lakers for road games in Memphis and Dallas, Malone decided early Friday to take a detour to his ranch in Arkansas rather than travel with the Lakers to Salt Lake City.

Any game Lakers is usually big in Utah, where fans have a long history of disliking Los Angeles. Even Malone, who became one of the state's most popular public figures during his stay, would have probably heard a few boos.

``When the game starts, it doesn't make any difference _ Karl Malone or whoever it is _ I don't really care,'' Jazz coach Jerry Sloan said. ``Our job still remains the same.''

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) The frustration is building for the Utah Jazz.

The team has lost three straight games for the first time this season, the top two scorers are out with injuries and some of the healthy players aren't making the smartest decisions.

Two Utah players were kicked out of games during the three-game slide and although the ejections may not have directly caused the losses, they definitely had a negative effect on the team.

``I just try to explain to players that's not the place they should be,'' Jazz coach Jerry Sloan said Thursday. ``We need them out on the floor. I also realize that frustration sometimes bothers all of us.''

Sloan knows plenty about getting frustrated and losing his temper. He's been suspended twice as a coach for contact with an official, including a seven-game involuntary break last season.

But with three players already filling up the injured list, Matt Harpring out for the season (knee surgery) and Andrei Kirilenko mending a sprained ankle, the Jazz don't have much to spare.

That was apparent Saturday night when center Greg Ostertag was thrown out in the third quarter for fighting with Cleveland's Zydrunas Ilgauskas. Without Ostertag in the middle, the Cavaliers rallied to an overtime win _ their first in Utah since 1989.

Ostertag was suspended for a game and had to watch Monday night from a hotel room as the Jazz lost at Golden State. Ostertag, also was benched for a game in December for arguing with Sloan, returned Tuesday for a home game against Denver. But the Jazz quickly lost another player when Raja Bell was thrown out for kicking the ball into the crowd after a layup at the end of the first quarter was waved off.

``I really don't have an explanation for it. I kind of lost my cool and well, I kicked the ball. It happened. It's done and I really can't explain it,'' Bell said. ``It was silly because my team needed me that night. I made a mistake.''

Sloan doesn't want to see any more ejections. With the Jazz headed on the road, where they're just 4-15 on Friday night against the Los Angeles Clippers and then home Saturday against the Lakers, Utah could slip below .500 for the first time this season.

Injuries have hurt, and so have the tantrums.

``That's something you have to try to control,'' Sloan said. ``The important thing is once you have it happen, you hope it doesn't happen again.

``Every game I say to myself, 'I'm not going to get a technical.' I've said this as long as I've been involved as a player or as a coach. But for some strange reason, there's a light or something goes off in this crazy head I've got and I get a technical.''

After Harpring's knee pain got to the point he couldn't play at the beginning of January, Kirilenko passed him in scoring average and leads the team with 16.3 points per game.

He said Thursday he will miss Friday's game and possibly Saturday. He can move forward, but it moving sideways still hurts the right ankle.

``It's swollen and bruised, but much less than two days ago. But I feel much better,'' he said.

Kirilenko, in his third season, had only missed two games in his career because of injuries before twisting his ankle Saturday against Cleveland. The team will struggle without him, but doesn't want to risk making the ankle worse and keeping him out longer.

But the Jazz won't blame all their struggles on the injuries.

``We're kind of lost,'' Ostertag said. ``We need to find ourselves and get that old competitive drive back that we had to start the season.''

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) The Mailman will be delayed.

Karl Malone's first visit to Utah since he left the Jazz and signed with the Los Angeles Lakers was delayed Friday when the injured star stayed home for personal reasons.

Malone wouldn't have played in Saturday's game anyway since he's on the injured list with a sprained knee ligament. But there had been great anticipation about his return after an 18-year career with the Jazz.

``Frankly, I was really curious to see what fan reaction would be,'' Jazz owner Larry Miller said. ``But we're not going to get to see until March.''

The next time the Lakers visit the Jazz is March 8.

Lakers spokeswoman Alison Bogli said Malone stayed home for personal reasons, but she would not elaborate.

Malone also missed the Lakers' first game against the Jazz _ the Lakers won 94-92 in LA on Dec. 7 _ due to a one-game suspension for elbowing.

Miller and Malone feuded over several issues in the past, but the two always seemed to resolve their problems.

Even over the summer, after Malone announced he was signing for the veteran's exception of $1.5 million with the Lakers so he'd have a better chance of winning his first NBA title, Miller tearfully wished him well.

``Seeing him in a Lakers uniform, as I've seen him on TV, it's an awkward, out-of-kilter kind of feeling,'' Miller said. ``To have him miss because of injury, that troubles me, because I don't know how bad that injury really is and I sure wouldn't want to see him have any limiting factor for whatever his career objectives are.''

The Jazz had no plans for a special welcome for Malone. Utah fans have a long history of disliking the Lakers. Even Malone, who became one of the state's most popular public figures during his stay, would have probably faced a few boos.

``When the game starts, it doesn't make any difference _ Karl Malone or whoever it is _ I don't really care,'' Jazz coach Jerry Sloan said. ``Our job still remains the same.''

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) Utah forward Andrei Kirilenko missed his second straight game Tuesday night against Denver because of a sprained ankle.

Kirilenko sat out the Jazz's 101-85 loss at Golden State on Monday night, the first game he missed this season. He injured his left ankle Saturday night in the third quarter of an overtime loss to Cleveland, but got it re-taped and finished the game.

Kirilenko leads the Jazz in scoring at 16.3 points per game.

Rookie Sasha Pavlovic started for Kirilenko.