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Reality of the present had barely registered, and already Karl Malone was thinking ahead.

Forward, to a future that inevitably will include more basketball, more goal-chasing and more - many more - of the age-old assertions that their advanced years only will continue to dog the Jazz.

Desire, in Malone's world, is a one-way road with no speed limit. AP Photos

Still, soon-to-be 38-year-old Malone leaves no doubt what's in store for him.

"I'm not going to suit up for a check," he says, "so as long as the desire's there, that's what I'm doing."

An hour after the Dallas Mavericks had eliminated the Jazz from the NBA playoffs with Thursday's Game 5 victory in their first-round, best-of-five postseason series, Malone left no doubt whatsoever that his desire is still there.

The second-leading scorer in league history fully intends to continue the quest to which he and 39-year-old point guard John Stockton have devoted the last 16-plus years of their lives.

Malone's hunger for the NBA championship that has eluded him all these seasons is alive, and, well . . .

"I will say something here, and you can mark it down: 'As long as I've got a uniform on here with the Jazz, and as long as Stockton has a uniform on with the Jazz, we're going to be competitive every year,' " Malone said. "And I'll say that, or I'll die trying."

Malone says what he does knowing full-well that the age police will continue to interrogate them, continue trying to extract a confession that their youth has been stolen.

"It's tiresome to keep hearing it. You hear it over and over and over, and we'll hear it over the summer - if you choose to listen to it," Malone said. "Or, you go out and you try to bounce back. I don't know - it's like that little kid growing up. You get into a fight, you get knocked down, you get back up.

"So, as long as I've got a breath in me, I'm going to keep doing it. I'm going to keep trying. And that's all you can do. Maybe it's not meant to be. If it's not meant to be, it's not meant to be. But I'm going to leave it all on the court. Once I'm done, I'm done."

Malone understands that the doubters will persist.

"It's tiresome to hear it, but it also definitely tests what you're made of as a person, and the desire you have to compete," he said. "Because it's tough, to keep getting knocked down. But it's also a lot more tough to keep getting up."

Age, Malone maintains, may wear down a lot, but it hasn't deteriorated his desire.

"They say when you've lost it, you'll be the last to know. But I'm just stubborn enough to say, 'I'll see.' So mine's increased," he said. "And I know John Stockton, and his increased. But we're going to keep on doing it, and we're going to see what happens."

Malone feels that if the Jazz are to soon return to the form that brought them to the 1997 and '98 NBA Finals, and overcome the hurdle that has prevented them from advancing into even the Western Conference Finals over the last three years, it will require extraordinary effort from someone besides just him and Stockton.

In other words, Malone doesn't buy the argument that as long as those two hang their hats in Utah, no one else can wear one, too.

"To me, that's the ultimate cop-out: Karl's here, John's here, I'm going to kick back and wait my turn. See, I disagree with that," Malone said. "When I came in this league, Adrian Dantley was here, Thurl Bailey was here . . . and Darrell Griffith. And I didn't come here being cocky or conceited or anything like that. But I came here and said, 'I want to play, and I want to be very good b