HONOLULU (AP) – When it comes to winning championship rings, Karl Malone has some catching up to do. Among his new Los Angeles Lakers teammates, for sure, and even in his own family.

Malone sat courtside last month and watched as his daughter, Cheryl Ford, helped the Detroit Shock win the WNBA championship in her rookie season. He covered his eyes as she sank four key free throws in the final minute of the decisive third game against Los Angeles, then embraced her when it was over.

“Oh, I was proud of her, then I said, “Damn, she came in and got one before me,”‘ Malone said.

“She came over and hugged me and the first thing she said was, “I got mine before you, dad, now it’s your turn.’ I said, “You’re absolutely right.”‘

So here he is, a few weeks later, dressed in the Lakers’ purple and gold and cooling down after a training camp practice. Huge ice packs are taped to his knees, and his right foot and ankle are submerged in a tub of ice. His body needs the post-practice maintenance, but otherwise the 6-foot-9, 259-pound Mailman looks as buff as ever, like he’s ready to help carry the load.

“This isn’t a 40-year-old body, this is more like in the 20s,” he joked.

At the start of camp, Malone could hardly believe he was with the Lakers. He’d spent his first 18 seasons with the Utah Jazz, reaching the NBA Finals in consecutive years but losing both times to Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls in six games.

A two-time Olympian, Malone said the chartered plane that brought the Lakers veterans from Los Angeles to Honolulu was like a Dream Team flight. Shaquille O’Neal and Horace Grant were on board, as was fellow newcomer Gary Payton, a 13-year veteran who has never won a championship. Kobe Bryant, who faces a sexual assault charge in Colorado, skipped the flight, arriving in town 24 hours later.

“It’s starting to sink in because every guy who has been here and won championships, it seems like they appreciate me being here,” Malone said. “Not that my teammates didn’t in Utah, but they expected so much, and that’s fine. But the guys here, it’s like … ‘I couldn’t believe you did what you did, but welcome.’ And that’s a feeling that I can’t explain.

“It makes me work harder. It makes me want to do the right thing every time I’m out there.”

Malone, the second-leading scorer in NBA history who is considered perhaps the greatest power forward ever, took a huge pay cut to join the Lakers in his quest for his first NBA title. After earning $19 million last season with the Jazz, he’ll get the veteran’s exception of $1.5 million in the first year of his two-year Lakers deal.

“Don’t get me wrong – if I could have come in for $10 million, I would have done that,” Malone said. “This is where I wanted to be. And I knew the situation coming in. If Gary came, it was one way, if I came by myself it was one way, if both of us came, it was cut and dry.

“I’ve been pretty smart with what I’ve done with my money. I’m playing because I want to play this game here. I want the opportunity. I want to do the best I can. Everybody knows money wasn’t the issue.”

O’Neal hopes to help Malone get his first ring.

“Luckily we’re all back on the same page because he wants one and I want another one,” said O’Neal, who led the Lakers to three straight titles from 2000-02. “So we’re going to work together to get that one, which will be his first and my fourth. It’s going to be fun. He’s one of the greatest players in the game.”

“It’s kind of a shame that Utah let a great player get away,” O’Neal added. “He played for Utah, but he’s going to be known in his career as a Laker. If I was an owner, I don’t think I could let that happen, but you know these owners.”

Malone’s joy at signing with the Lakers was tempered by the death of his mother, Shirley Jackson Malone, in August while he was practicing with the U.S. Olympic team for a qualifying tournament.

“I think as a person it changed me forever,” Malone said.

“You’re talking about the person who gave me life.”

Not a day goes by I don’t think about her. This is what she wanted me to do. So I’m going to play this one for her. As long as I play for her, that could be pretty scary.”

Notes: The Lakers play the Golden State Warriors in exhibition games Tuesday and Wednesday at the University of Hawaii. … Coach Phil Jackson said O’Neal’s bruised heel is getting better, but that Bryant, who had offseason shoulder and knee surgery, probably won’t be ready until the Lakers play Phoenix in San Diego on Oct. 14.

AP-ES-10-06-03 1746EDT