MILWAUKEE · Becoming the latest former Laker to be put off by Kobe Bryant's attitude, free-agent forward Karl Malone has acknowledged ongoing interest from the Heat.
So, for that matter, has the Heat.
"We've had interest from the start, and we continue to have interest," General Manager Randy Pfund said Wednesday.
Healed from offseason knee surgery, Malone is considering a return to the NBA within the next two weeks. He told the Riverside (Calif.) Press-Enterprise that he has fielded calls from the Heat, Spurs, Mavericks and Timberwolves.
Until Tuesday, it appeared any Malone comeback would come with the Lakers, his 2003-04 team. However, once Bryant went on a Los Angeles radio station Tuesday and said it was unfair for teammates to deal with the shadow of an impending Malone return, everything changed.
Both Malone and agent Dwight Manley say the 41-year-old power forward no longer views the Lakers as an option. Contacted Wednesday, Manley declined further comment.
Asked about Malone seemingly ruling the Lakers off his list, Pfund said, "I guess it somewhat verifies that maybe the place people thought might be the most likely place for him may not be."
Having recruited Malone to the Lakers last season, Heat center Shaquille O'Neal said before Wednesday's game against the Bucks that he will leave the matter to team management.
"That's not my decision -- Pat Riley is in 5,000-percent control," he said of the Heat president, "so, we'll just have to sit back and see.
"I'm sure if Karl is interested, then maybe Mr. Riley would be interested, and I could do my part with the general managerial skills I possess."
Speaking from his Arkansas ranch to a variety of media outlets, Malone, in the wake of Bryant's comments, lashed out at how the Lakers handled several personnel decisions, including the dispatching of O'Neal to the Heat.
"I look at the whole scenario, and the whole thing could have been done differently, by everybody," Malone said. "I don't want to throw daggers at anyone, but I would have quit my job before I traded Shaquille O'Neal."
Pfund said the team has kept in contact with Malone's representation.
O'Neal said he also has been in contact with Malone.
"Whenever we talk, it's never about basketball, it's never about coming back," O'Neal said. "Karl is a great guy, and I know he went through a tough injury last year."
Of Bryant's comments, O'Neal said, "I'm not really concerned with it.
"I don't know what happened. I don't care what happened."
