Karl Malone, known around the National Basketball Association as the Mailman, delivered a strong message last week, challenging the accepted belief that Magic Johnson has been universally welcomed back to the league even though he has the virus that causes AIDS.
"Look at this, scabs and cuts all over me," Malone, the Utah Jazz All-Star forward, said last Tuesday night in the visitors' locker room at Madison Square Garden before a preseason game against the Knicks.
He pressed a finger to a small, pinkish hole on his thigh that was developing into a scab. "I get these every night, every game," he said. "They can't tell you that you're not at risk, and you can't tell me there's one guy in the N.B.A. who hasn't thought about it."
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