Question:  What basketball legend mentioned in The last season: A team in search of its soul is tied with Karl Malone for the most first team All-NB elections in history.
Context: The 1998–99 NBA season was the Jazz's 25th season in the National Basketball Association, and 20th season in Salt Lake City, Utah.  Having lost back-to-back NBA Finals to the Chicago Bulls for the past two seasons, the Jazz were hoping a third time would be a charm as the Bulls' dynasty ended.  During the offseason, the team re-signed free agent Thurl Bailey, who came out of his retirement.  The start of the Jazz season was delayed by a four-month lockout.  When the season finally started, the Jazz got off to a 19–4 start, and then posted an 11-game winning streak in April.  However, they struggled a bit down the stretch as they lost their grip on first place.  They finished with a league best record of 37–13.  However, their record was tied by the San Antonio Spurs, who won the Midwest Division by a tie-breaker.  Karl Malone was named Most Valuable Player of the Year for the second time. The 2002–03 NBA season was the Jazz's 29th season in the National Basketball Association, and 24th season in Salt Lake City, Utah.  During the offseason, the Jazz signed free agents Matt Harpring, Calbert Cheaney and Mark Jackson.  The team finished third in the Midwest Division with a 47–35 record, and qualified for the playoffs for the twentieth straight season.  However, the Jazz once again failed to make it out of the first round, losing to the Sacramento Kings in five games.  This season also marked the end of the Stockton and Malone era.  John Stockton and Karl Malone were both given a long standing ovation after Game 4 at the Delta Center, and another one after Game 5 at the ARCO Arena.  Following the season, Stockton retired while Malone signed as a free agent with the Los Angeles Lakers.  Also following the season, Cheaney signed with the Golden State Warriors and Jackson was released.  The Jazz would not return to the playoffs until 2007. The 1992–93 NBA season was the Jazz's 19th season in the National Basketball Association, and 14th season in Salt Lake City, Utah.  During the offseason, the Jazz acquired Jay Humphries from the Milwaukee Bucks.  Utah hosted the 1993 NBA All-Star Game, and their star players Karl Malone and John Stockton were named co-MVPs.  Malone and Stockton continued to be among the best players in the NBA, as the Jazz won six of their first eight games on their way to a 24–10 start.  However, they struggled down the stretch with a 6–8 record in February, including a five-game losing streak.  Late in the season, the team signed free agent James Donaldson, who played in the final six games of the regular season.  The Jazz went on to finish third in the Midwest Division with a 47–35 record.  However, in the first round of the playoffs, they lost to the Seattle SuperSonics in five games after taking a 2–1 series lead.  Following the season, Mark Eaton announced his retirement. The 2001–02 NBA season was the Jazz's 28th season in the National Basketball Association, and 23rd season in Salt Lake City, Utah.  During the offseason, the Jazz signed free agent John Amaechi.  John Stockton continued to set new standards with 15,000 career assists and 3,000 career steals, as Karl Malone scored his 34,000th career point.  However, the Jazz began to show their age as they played mediocre basketball all season finishing fourth in the Midwest Division with a 44–38 record.  The Jazz also beat the Los Angeles Lakers' record of sixteen consecutive winning seasons, set between 1976–77 and 1991–92.  Malone was selected for the 2002 NBA All-Star Game, but did not play due to an injury.  Rookie Andre Kirilenko was selected to the All-Rookie First Team.  In the first round of the playoffs, they lost in four games to the Sacramento Kings. The Last Season: A Team in Search of Its Soul is a book by the former American basketball coach Phil Jackson, originally published by the Penguin Press in 2004.  The book deals with the ups and downs of the Los Angeles Lakers' 2003-04 season and offers Jackson's insight into the team's season that ended in a breakup but not a championship, despite boasting four potential future Hall of Famers: Shaquille O'Neal, Kobe Bryant, Karl Malone and Gary Payton. Karl Anthony Malone (born July 24, 1963) is an American retired professional basketball player.  Nicknamed "The Mailman", Malone played the power forward position and spent his first 18 seasons (1985–2003) in the National Basketball Association (NBA) with the Utah Jazz and formed a formidable duo with his teammate John Stockton.  Malone also played one season for the Los Angeles Lakers.  Malone was a two-time NBA Most Valuable Player, a 14-time NBA All-Star, and an 11-time member of the All-NBA first team.  He scored the second most career points in NBA history (36,928) (second behind Kareem Abdul-Jabbar), and holds the records for most free throws attempted and made, in addition to co-holding the record for the most first team All-NBA elections in history (tied with Kobe Bryant and LeBron James).  He is considered one of the best power forwards in NBA history. The NBA All-Rookie Team is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) honor given since the 1962–63 NBA season to the top rookies during the regular season.  Voting is conducted by the NBA head coaches; who are not allowed to vote for players on their own team.  The All-Rookie Team is generally composed of two five-man lineups, a first team and a second team.  The players each receive two points for each first team vote and one point for each second team vote.  The top five players with the highest point total make the first team, with the next five making the second team.  In the case of a tie at the fifth position of either team, the roster is expanded.  If the first team consists of six players due to a tie, the second team will still consist of five players with the potential for more expansion in the event of additional ties.  Ties have occurred several times, most recently in 2012, when Kawhi Leonard, Iman Shumpert, and Brandon Knight tied in votes received.  No respect is given to positions.  For example, the first team had four forwards, and one guard in 2008, while the first team had four centers (two of which were forward-centers) and one guard in 2016. The Karl Malone Power Forward of the Year Award is an annual basketball award given by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame to the top men's collegiate power forward.  Following the success of the Bob Cousy Award which had been awarded since 2004, the award was one of four new awards (along with the Jerry West Award, Julius Erving Award and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award) created as part of the inaugural College Basketball Awards show in 2015.  It is named after 14-time NBA All-Star, 11-time All-NBA First Team player Karl Malone.  The inaugural winner was Montrezl Harrell. The 1997–98 NBA season was the Jazz's 24th season in the National Basketball Association, and 19th season in Salt Lake City, Utah.  Without John Stockton for the first 18 games due to a knee injury, the Jazz slowly got off to an 11–7 start to the season.  However, Stockton would eventually return as the Jazz won 31 of their final 36 games after the All-Star break, and finished first place in the Midwest Division with a 62–20 record.  The Jazz's top scorer Karl Malone, who averaged 27.0 points per game, was part of a Jazz offense that had two other players, Stockton and Jeff Hornacek, averaging double-digits in points.  Malone was the only member of the team to play in the 1998 NBA All-Star Game. The 1990–91 NBA season was the Jazz's 17th season in the National Basketball Association, and 12th season in Salt Lake City, Utah.  Early into the season, the Jazz traveled to Japan to play their first two games against the Phoenix Suns at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium.  With the offseason acquisition of Jeff Malone from the Washington Bullets, the Jazz continued to play sweet music in the regular season with a 26–12 start.  They ended up falling one game short of the Midwest Division title with another stellar record of 54–28, as Karl Malone finished second in the league in scoring with 29.0 points per game, and John Stockton led the league with 14.2 assists per game.  Malone and Stockton were both selected for the 1991 NBA All-Star Game.  In the first round of the playoffs, the Jazz defeated the 4th-seeded Phoenix Suns in four games, but lost in the semifinals to the Portland Trail Blazers in five games.  This was also their final season playing at the Salt Palace.  Following the season, Darrell Griffith retired.
Answer: Kobe Bryant