NEW YORK -- Monday marked Karl Malone's first official workout as a member of his new Dream Team.

That would be the collection of stars famous for its purple and gold and the team in red, white and blue.

	Karl Malone says he feels 'like a kid in a candy store again.'

"No, I don't feel like one yet," Malone said when asked if he felt Laker-like yet after his first Team USA practice at John Jay College. "When I go out and walk around on the streets, I will."

Malone's role is the same for both stacked squads. Initially, he'll serve as a complementary scorer but, because of his experience, could be called on for larger duty in pressure situations. He may be the elder statesman but still possesses plenty of game with a 40-year-old physique that remains perpetually chiseled.

On both teams, the goal is simple: win it all. Nothing less will be accepted.

Malone acknowledged these "expectations" with the Lakers after running with the U.S. national team, which has to go through the motions of qualifying for the 2004 Olympics later this month in Puerto Rico.

"I know why they brought me here -- to the Lakers -- and that's to win the championship," said Malone, who, along with Gary Payton, joined the Lakers in free agency's biggest splashes. "It's a lot of pressure. I could have easily took my money in Utah and be in that comfort zone. It's uncertainty -- I've been certain for 18 years with one style. Now, to come to one totally different style with two superstars already and play me with those guys, I want to be nervous.

"As a rookie, I was afraid to death. In my second year, they expected -- from then on, they expected for me to do something. But I've never been (as) excited because I think it's going to be something very special. We've still got to go win, but if the guys come with the right frame of mind, I think it can be an unbelievable team."

The same could be said with this latest incarnation of America's best ballclub. Malone, of course, was a member of the real Dream Team -- the 1992 U.S. Olympic team that featured the first grouping of NBA All-Stars.

"Just the fact that he made this commitment at this time in his career -- (and) what he did by going to L.A. -- kind of shows you what he's about," U.S. head coach Larry Brown said. "But Jermaine (O'Neal) said it best: He deserves to be here. He's still a great player. He's not just coming onto this team because he's an older and experienced guy. He's coming onto this team to make a contribution as a player."

	“	Just the fact that he made this commitment at this time in his career -- (and) what he did by going to L.A. -- kind of shows you what he's about. ”
		— Larry Brown on Karl Malone

Team USA welcomed Malone's late arrival on Monday, but the guys didn't wait long to start with the old jokes. Malone is an easy target since everyone else on the team is mostly in their early-to-mid 20s. (Jason Kidd, at 30, is the second oldest player behind Malone.)

So, when practice ended and everyone huddled around Brown, Malone's teammates made sure the old man could rest. "They said, `You don't sit on the floor, you need a chair,' " Malone explained.

Malone missed the first day of Team USA's training camp because he was completing his family's move to southern California. Known for his offseason training, he hadn't done much of anything basketball-related, except for mugging for the cameras with Payton at the Staples Center to formally increase the Lakers' number of future Hall of Famers to four and confirm the Western Conference's worst nightmare.

"There were a lot of moves made, but everybody got better," Malone said. "That's why you put it on paper anyway you want to -- we've still got to go play."

But when the Lakers begin camp in Hawaii on Sept. 30, basketball figures to be secondary due to Kobe Bryant's sexual-assault charge. Malone has witnessed the media mayhem in L.A. over the case and realizes the season is "going to be a circus."

"The most important thing is to focus on basketball and not the other stuff," said Malone, who decided to sign with the Lakers before Bryant's July 4 arrest. "It's going to be up to us to get that attention back on basketball … You just support your teammates and block that other stuff out."

Joe Lago, who writes the "Morning Shootaround" every Wednesday during the regular season, is the NBA editor for ESPN.com.