THE NBA / MARK HEISLER : Will Writers Ever Deliver MVP Trophy to Malone?

Remember your Mailman at Easter.

Shaquille O’Neal is this spring’s MVP favorite, but he’s going to win several before they put in the 100-yard court and the moving basket and he retires to Hollywood or MTV.

This should be Karl Malone’s year, since he has compiled an admirable body of work but is running out of time with nary a commercial, rap record or movie in production.

Buried in Utah, the Mailman gets little exposure. The closest he ever came to the MVP was 1990, when he averaged 31 points and ran a distant third to Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan.

Not that exposure would make the difference. The unspectacular Mailman was lost on the Dream Team, where everyone else was an artist capable of no-look passes or midair ballet. All Malone did was run down the floor, take a pass, knock down whoever was in his way and make a layup.

However, he does the same thing to Knicks and Bulls that he did to Uganda and Spain. Few players have ever been as rock-solid consistent at such a high level.

Malone has missed four games in 10 seasons--one in the last six. In his last seven seasons, he has never averaged fewer than 25 points or 10.6 rebounds. For his career, he has shot 53%.

“He’s been on winning teams,” says Jordan Cohn, co-author of the Pro Basketball Bible. “Yes, they haven’t won a championship, but they’ve been winners. They won 50 (games) every year, and a lot of those were pretty lousy teams that just had the two players (Malone and John Stockton).

“He’s unquestionably the best player at his position and he’s been that for years. Hasn’t lost a step. Surprisingly good defensive player. This year’s team has exceeded expectations. What else do they want from the guy?”

For a power forward with a Muscle Beach body, Malone is surprisingly well-rounded. He’s among the top 15 in steals, the top 30 in blocks. Of the league’s forwards, only Scottie Pippen, Grant Hill and Charles Barkley average more assists.

The Salt Lake Tribune recently polled 20 reporters with MVP votes and found O’Neal had a sizable lead over the second-place Malone.

At 31, Malone has heard it before.

“I’m not even thinking about it really,” he says. “I will say this: I’m doing the same things I’ve been doing for 10 years and I haven’t been a serious candidate yet. So I’m not one now, probably.”

Serious, yes. Odds-on, no. Here’s hoping for an upset.

THE OTHER RACES

Since I did so well handicapping teams recently--I had the Suns fighting for No. 1 in the West, the Spurs as third-place also-rans--I’m sure readers everywhere are dying to know my opinion of how the other awards will go.

Coach of the year: Del Harris in a walkover. He’ll win 50-plus games with a team that won 34 last season, despite losing Cedric Ceballos and Eddie Jones for more than a month.

Honorable mention: Cleveland’s Mike Fratello, whose Cavaliers finally succumbed to their injuries; Utah’s Jerry Sloan, who has long deserved more attention than he gets; Indiana’s Larry Brown, who didn’t blow up in Year II.

Rookie of the year: A Dallas Morning News poll shows Hill edging fast-closing Jason Kidd, with Glenn Robinson third.

Hill scores 19 points a game and is second only to Pippen in assists among forwards. Kidd is the most gifted young playmaker since Magic, and his shooting is starting to come: He was at 34% on Jan. 1 but has shot 42% since the All-Star break. Robinson is the best scorer, with a 21-point average, but did nothing for his cause by whining about the bad rap he got in his holdout. Heaven help him if people ever actually get on him.

Defensive player of the year: Dikembe Mutombo again, and not because he said he’d bite the head off anyone who doesn’t vote for him. He has a big-time shot-block number, 3.8 a game, 12% ahead of No. 2 Hakeem Olajuwon, and reporters like numbers.

My choice, as usual, is Dennis Rodman, who has more impact per point scored than anyone since Bill Russell.

THE PROS LOOK AT THE NCAA TOURNAMENT

Who went up?

Nobody in Westwood has to ask twice.

Ed O’Bannon--Capping the push he started last fall, he’s a top 10 guy now, regardless of who comes out. “Best small forward in the draft,” one general manager says.

Tyus Edney--”Before the tournament, he was a high second-rounder,” a scout says. “I think he’s in the first round now. There’s still some doubt about his durability, but he’s unbelievably quick and he’s a winner.”

Ray Allen--The UConn sophomore was rated a comer before, but arrived in a limo. “I love him,” the GM says. “I know it’s heresy, I know we’ll never see another one in this century, but if anyone ever reminded you of Michael Jordan, this is him.”

Junior Burrough--The Virginia center, who’ll be a pro power forward, had a fine senior season and kept it going. “I loved him in the tournament,” the GM says. “He played like that in the ACC tournament, too. He’s much better than most people think he is.”

Antonio McDyess--The insiders were already in love with this 6-foot-10 Alabama sophomore. Now everybody knows he’s big time.

Who nose-dived?

Rasheed Wallace--You’d have to take this 6-10 North Carolina sophomore high, but right now it’s all potential. Should be captain of the stay-in-school squad.

Scotty Thurman--The Arkansas junior is making sounds that he wants to come out, but might not go in the first round, even with 29 picks in a thin year. “I don’t think he’s too quick,” the scout says. “It’s not clear that he’s adept at getting his own shot. I think he’s a second-round pick.”

FACES AND FIGURES

Mario Bennett’s decision to leave Arizona State suggests there’s another slew of underclassmen coming, hoping to beat the NBA’s rookie cap. However, no one knows what this spring’s rules will be. The union already has conceded a rookie cap, and if a contract is agreed upon soon, it will apply this spring, although that is undoubtedly not what agents are telling underclassmen. “My own guess,” a general manager says, “is we’ll have a rookie cap.” . . . Bennett, by the way, is expected to go somewhere in the top half of the first round. . . . There’s mutiny afoot in Portland, where Rod Strickland announced that he didn’t like Coach P.J. Carlesimo and had never liked him. Carlesimo was owner Paul Allen’s personal choice and has a five-year, $7.4-million contract. However, insiders say Strickland was speaking for several players. Also, GM Bob Whitsitt, who came from Seattle after Carlesimo was hired, isn’t considered a P.J. guy and might not throw his body between the coach and the players.

Having loaded his roster with veterans to stay “competitive,” Celtic boss M.L. Carr has mixed feelings while watching his team edge ahead in the race for the East’s last playoff spot. Asked if they belong in the playoffs, Carr said: “With our record? No. If you’re going to be in the playoffs, you should have at least 40 wins. You’ve got teams here now that are still trying to get up into the 30s, and one of them is going to get into the playoffs. To me, that’s not good. It’s not good for basketball.” Nor is it good for the Celtics, who’ll miss the lottery pick they need. . . . Behind the Knicks’ struggles: Charles Oakley is averaging fewer than eight rebounds since returning from toe surgery. . . . Heat interim Coach Alvin Gentry became the latest to blow up at Kevin Willis, who has made 18 points and 11 rebounds a game seem irrelevant. Willis will be 33 next season and can be a free agent after it. The Heat does not want to extend him. At least we know who got the better of that trade with Atlanta, where Grant Long has been solid and 26-year-old Steve Smith has been coming on. . . . Ex-Bruin and Loyola Marymount Lion Corey Gaines, signed by the 76ers after a stint in Italy says: “It was an experience, but I’m all pasta-ed out.”

Bull GM Jerry Krause on the second Michael Jordan era: “When Michael left, I had no advance warning. Now when he comes back, I have no advance warning. I was totally convinced we were never going to see Michael again. I would not have signed (Ron) Harper if I had known that. The biggest thing we don’t have is a protector in the middle. If Michael hadn’t retired, there is a chance Bill (Cartwright) could have played another year. You could have milked him like Seattle is trying to do. I have to work both ways, thinking Mike will be here or Mike will not be here. Of all the complex challenges I have ever been issued, this may be the most complex.” Still doesn’t explain why they didn’t sign Horace Grant, does it?

Spur Coach Bob Hill on the rookie race: “I think that Glenn Robinson is the best rookie I’ve seen this year. His game is more mature, he can do more things. It sounds like Grant Hill is going to win it, but I’d go with Glenn or Eddie Jones.” . . . Injured Celtic Rick Fox, visiting his college coach, Dean Smith, found a Celtic game on one TV in the North Carolina offices, a Bull game on another. “Dean would pop his head in every once in a while and say, ‘How’s Eric (Montross) doing?” Fox said. Finally, Fox asked if he wanted to know how Jordan was doing. Replied Smith: “I’m not worried about Michael. How’s Eric doing?”