McKown moved to Utah in advance of the 1997-98 season, becoming the Jazz’s first full-time strength and conditioning coach after working with the New York Knicks. Immediately, he formed a working relationship with Karl Malone, becoming legendary late-night workout buddies with the hall-of-fame power forward.
“I’ve been with Karl to Louisiana, across the Rockies, to Alaska. We’ve laughed so hard we were both in tears more times than I could possibly count,” McKown said.
But McKown quickly ingrained himself with the rest of the organization, too. Nearly a decade later, McKown was the best man at Jerry Sloan’s wedding in 2006, and they’d spend weeks together during offseasons at Sloan’s ranch in Illinois.