BRIEFLY : MALONE'S REVERSE: HE WANTS TO STAY.

Byline: Daily News Wire Services

A week after Karl Malone vowed on a Los Angeles radio talk show that he would never play another game for the Utah Jazz, the Mailman changed his mind.

Malone, in an interview Wednesday with KNRS radio, said he had not ``abandoned'' Utah and answered ``yes'' when asked if he would like to continue to play for the Jazz.

``Karl Malone the person will not change, but the business person has done a 360-degree turn,'' Malone said.

The San Antonio Spurs, who are lobbying city leaders for money to build a new arena, released an audited financial statement showing almost $1.9 million in losses for the past season.

Louisiana State will be barred from 1999 postseason tournaments and lose six scholarships in the next three years because a booster paid Lester Earl $5,000 to play basketball there, the NCAA announced. Earl had accused former LSU assistant Johnny Jones of paying him to attend the school, but the NCAA investigation cleared both Jones and retired head coach Dale Brown, who was in charge of the program during Earl's brief stay at LSU.

Nicole Kaczmarski, considered one of the top players in the nation, has signed a national letter of intent to play for UCLA. Kaczmarski, a 5-foot-11 point guard, averaged 25.9 points, 4.3 rebounds and 5.2 assists last season at Sachem High in Farmingville, N.Y.

FOOTBALL: Clemson coach Tommy West, his team struggling through a 2-8 season, was fired but will stay on to coach Saturday's game against South Carolina. Clemson will honor the $325,000 buyout clause in West's contract.

TENNIS: Fifth-seeded Monica Seles struggled before subduing Anna Kournikova 6-4, 6-3 in an opening-round match at the Chase Championships in New York City. The victory sent Seles into the quarterfinals of the $2 million, season-ending tournament, where she will take on red-hot Steffi Graf.

Lindsay Davenport was two points away from defeat when she rallied to beat Sandrine Testud of France 4-6, 7-6 (7-4), 6-0 and complete the opening round.

Jacco Eltingh and Paul Haarhuis, playing in their final doubles tournament as a team, beat Ellis Ferriera and Rick Leach 6-4, 6-4 in the opening round of the ATP World Doubles Championship in Hartford, Conn. The Dutchmen, ranked No. 1 in the world, improved their 1998 record to 42-4. Together they have won 38 titles, including this year at Wimbledon.

GOLF: In Poipu, Hawaii, Tiger Woods rolled in a 12-foot birdie putt on the 17th hole and then watched match-play opponent Vijay Singh hit his second shot on the final hole into the ocean to capture the PGA Grand Slam of Golf. The 2-up win for Woods was worth $400,000.