Moses Malone

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Position:	Center
College:	None
ABA draft:	1974, 3rd round Utah Stars
Pro career:	21 seasons
Hall of Fame:	NBA Naismith

Moses Eugene Malone (born March 23, 1955 in Petersburg, Virginia) is an American former National Basketball Association (NBA) basketball player who also played in the American Basketball Association (ABA), as well as on the NBA's Atlanta Hawks, Houston Rockets, Milwaukee Bucks, Philadelphia 76ers, San Antonio Spurs and Washington Bullets. Malone played 21 seasons in the NBA. Before retiring from basketball, he was the last ABA participant to still be playing in the NBA.

Contents 1 High school and ABA 2 NBA career 2.1 76ers' savior 2.2 Post-championship years 3 Career accomplishments 3.1 Lifetime statistics 4 Trivia 5 Notes 6 Further reading 7 External links

High school and ABA

Malone graduated from Petersburg High School to the ABA, being drafted by the Utah Stars in 1974, after signing a letter of intent to play at the University of Maryland. He was the first basketball player to jump straight from high school into the professional leagues.

In two seasons in the ABA, Malone averaged 17.2 points and 13.9 rebounds per game. He played with the Stars and the Spirits of St. Louis.

NBA career

After the ABA was merged with the NBA, Malone became a member of the Buffalo Braves, having been selected by the Portland Trail Blazers in the ABA dispersal draft but traded to the Braves after the draft. After a short period of time there, he was shipped to the Houston Rockets. He caused an immediate impact in Houston, helping make the franchise a respectable one and reaching the NBA Finals in 1981, where they lost in six games to Larry Bird and the Boston Celtics. Malone had been named the NBA's Most Valuable Player two seasons earlier, in 1978-79.

76ers' savior

After averaging 31 points per game in the 1981-82 season, Malone again won the MVP award. He was, however, traded to the Sixers over the course of the next summer. In Philadelphia, he teamed up with Julius Erving, Maurice Cheeks, and Bobby Jones, among others, to win his only NBA championship when the Sixers swept Magic Johnson and the Los Angeles Lakers during the 1983 NBA Finals. Said head coach Billy Cunningham, "The difference from last year was Moses" (the Lakers had beaten the Sixers in the 1982 NBA Finals). Malone was named MVP of the 1983 Finals, as well as league MVP for the third time. Before the 1983 playoffs began, Malone made the famous prediction characterized by the phrase "fo' fo' fo'"--as in "four, four, four"--claiming that the Sixers would sweep through the playoffs in the minimum 12 games. However, the Sixers lost one game to the Milwaukee Bucks in the Eastern Conference Finals. Still, the Sixers' 12-1 record in the playoffs is one of the most dominant playoff run in NBA history (the Lakers went 15-1 in 2001 in the extended four-round playoff format).

Post-championship years

Prior to the 1986-87 season, he was traded to the Bullets, but not before playing one season with legend in the making Charles Barkley. Once again, Malone helped his team reach a level of respectability with the Bullets, as they reached the NBA playoffs during the two seasons that Malone played with them. Malone then went on to star alongside Dominique Wilkins and Spud Webb on the Mike Fratello-coached Atlanta Hawks of 1988-89 and 1989-90.

Malone then went on to the Milwaukee Bucks after the 1990-91 season, remaining there until the summer of 1993.

Malone then rejoined the Sixers for a short period of time, participating with Manute Bol in what would be an injury plagued 1993-94 season. In 1994, he was sent to the Spurs, where he played the back-up center role behind superstar David Robinson. 1994-95 was his last season in the NBA. During the final game of his NBA career in a game against the Charlotte Hornets, he hit a buzzer-beating three-point shot from the opposing free throw line, eighty feet away from the goal. It was only the eighth three-pointer of his career. He played just 17 games for the Spurs, all in November and December of 1994.

Malone wore several different jersey numbers in his career, among them #2 with the Sixers, Hawks, and Spurs, #4 with the Bullets, #8 with the Bucks, #13 with the Spirits, #22 with the Stars, and #24 with the Rockets.

Career accomplishments

• Malone helped his high school team to win 50 games in a row, and achieve a number of state championships.
• Malone became the first player in NBA history to earn five consecutive rebounding titles after the 1984-1985 season, when he averaged 13 rebounds per game.
• He did not foul out during his final 1,212 games - the longest streak of games played without a disqualification ^[1].
• He is second only to Karl Malone in overall (NBA & ABA) free throws made, with a total of 9,018 and to Wilt Chamberlain in overall (NBA & ABA) free throws attempted, with a total of 11,090.
• Malone was named one of the NBA's 50 greatest players in 1997. In 2001, he was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.
• Since the NBA started tracking offensive and defensive rebounds separately in 1973-74 Malone has the most number of offensive rebounds (6,731).
• He has played more seasons (21) in the NBA/ABA than any other player.
• He is eighth all time, in games played (1,329) and tenth in minutes played (45,071)
• He is 13th in field goal attempts (19,225) in the NBA
• He was the NBA Most Valuable Player in 1979, 1982 and 1983.

Lifetime statistics

• Games: 1,329
• Points: 27,409
• PPG: 20.6
• RPG: 12.2
• APG: 1.4
• BLK: 1,733
• FG%: .491
• FT%: .769

Trivia

• During the latter years of his basketball career, he was also known for wearing thick glasses during games.
• His career was so long that he was able to play on the same team as Rick Barry (Houston in 1979 and 1980) and later played on the same team as Rick's son, Jon Barry (Milwaukee in 1992 and 1993).
• Malone is the only player ever to be traded following an MVP season (from Houston to Philadelphia).
• Tutored Hakeem Olajuwon during offseason pickup games while Olajuwon was still a collegian and is credited with helping the young center to make huge strides in his abilities.
• Has had his number retired by two teams: #24 with the Houston Rockets, and #2 with the Philadelphia 76ers. The 76ers have actually not had an official ceremony to retire Malone's number, but it has been removed from usage.
• Malone is one of only three players in NBA history to average 20 points and 10 rebounds in a season with three different teams (Wilt Chamberlain and Shaquille O'Neal) are the others.), and is the only player ever to do it with four teams. George McGinnis also accomplished this feat, but one of the seasons came while playing in the ABA (American Basketball Association).
• In one of Strong Bad's emails, one method of getting his best friend The Cheat to sleep is to tell him a bedtime story involving The Cheat and Moses Malone.

Notes

Further reading

• Heisler, Mark (2003). Giants: The 25 Greatest Centers of All Time. Chicago: Triumph Books. ISBN 1-57243-577-1. 

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