NBA commissioner Adam Silver was trolled on social media for honoring Karl Malone at the 2023 All-Star Game at the Vivint Arena, Salt Lake City in Utah.
“I really need to know how Karl Malone got back in the good graces of the NBA. How do you PR your way out of being a pedo???” a Twitter user said.
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“This #NBAAllStar tribute is HELLA uncomfortable, particularly with Karl Malone up there. Got the ick,” another one added.
“I’m sorry, I don’t think the NBA should allow Karl Malone anywhere near the product,” a user said.
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“The @NBA will honor pedo Carl Malone for getting a 13 year old pregnant and give Kyrie hell and suspend him!!! Are we serious! Carl abandoned ALL his kids ALL and this is a man you honor??? HE ALSO PETITIONED TO get Magic out the league,” a Twitter user wrote.
“It’s really wild they gave Karl Malone all that love. There’s an embarrassing amount of inconsistency in the NBA,” another Twitter user said.
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The decision to bring back the Jazz legend to be one of the faces of the weekend and serve as a judge has been widely criticized given Malone’s sketchy off-court past.
In 1983, when Malone was a 20-year-old college student he impregnated a 13-year-old girl and had spent years denying his son, former NFL offensive lineman Demetress Bell, before finally developing a relationship with him.
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Malone never faced charges for it. It has mostly been swept under the rug and neglected by the Jazz and the NBA. The fact that he was invited to one of the NBA’s top events just further shows how much the league has overlooked it.
However, it was not ignored by a large segment of the media covering the All-Star weekend. The NBA has faced some serious criticism while Malone refused to talk about his past personal life.
