Karl Malone All-Time Starting 5: Leaves MJ Off List, Backtracks Statements

Karl Malone made headlines when he gave his all-time NBA starting 5 on "The Dan Patrick Show" early Wednesday when he excluded hall of famer Michael Jordan from consideration. Malone would later retract his statements after realizing his error.

"Michael Jordan is in my starting five. Relax my little grasshoppers," Malone said to ESPN.

The NBA's second all-time leading scorer told Patrick he would take Wilt Chamberlain at center, former Jazz teammate John Stockton at point guard, LeBron James at power forward and Oscar Robertson at shooting guard.

When asked who he'd take from the small forward position, Malone said: "I'm gonna shock the world. I have to put Scottie Pippen at the 3. Scottie Pippen led the [Bulls] in every statistical category when he was there without Jordan."

After the Bulls won three titles from 1991 to '93, Jordan walked away from the NBA to pursue a career in baseball, before returning in 1995. Pippen did star on some good Bulls teams, but Chicago went on to win three more championships after Jordan returned.

Patrick responded that Malone must have a man crush on Pippen to take him over his more celebrated Chicago Bulls teammate.

"I have a man crush on LeBron James," Malone responded.

Chicago successfully defeated Malone's Utah Jazz in back-to-back Finals in 1997 and 1998 before Jordan's second retirement. When asked in the past about his all-time starting five, Malone has left Jordan off as well, but before calling in SportsCenter, he tweeted that this time he was just messing with Patrick.

"Dan Patrick had a man crush on MJ from the time we started the interview. I was just messing with him," he tweeted.