It was going to be about the basketball when [Karl Malone] and [Gary Payton] said in July they'd come for about what it would cost to get a so- so NBA shooting guard ... combined. So, four months later, in a sold- out Staples Center, Malone and Payton stood beside Shaquille O'Neal and, together, they defeated the Dallas Mavericks, 109-93, in the season opener for both teams.

All five Laker starters -- none of them Kobe Bryant -- scored in double figures, none more than Payton's 21 points, none fewer than Malone's 15. O'Neal had 16 and nine rebounds. Malone had 10 rebounds and nine assists, Payton nine assists and seven rebounds, in a game in which they never trailed.

WHAT KEPT YOU? Karl Malone, Gary Payton and Shaquille O'Neal sit with Kobe Bryant on the Laker bench in the fourth quarter. Bryant didn't make an appearance until late in the third quarter.; PHOTOGRAPHER: Robert Gauthier Los Angeles Times; DELIVERING: Karl Malone, who just missed a triple-double, drives between three Mavericks.; PHOTOGRAPHER: Robert Gauthier Los Angeles Times