Moses Malone

Moses Eugene Malone (March 23, 1955 - September 13, 2015) made a successful transition from high school directly to professional basketball when he joined the ABA’s Utah Stars in 1974 rather than accept the scholarship offered by the University of Maryland. Malone bounced around after the ABA-NBA merger following the 1975-76 seasons before finally settling in with the Houston Rockets. Considered a fierce rebounder from the beginning, (primarily pulling down offensive rebounds) Malone led the league in offensive rebounds nine times and total rebounds five times during his 21-year career. What would have been Malone’s senior season at Maryland, he was named the 1979 NBA Most Valuable Player as he led the league in games played (82), minutes played (3,390) offensive (587), defensive (857) and total (1,444) rebounds. Malone set a still-standing NBA record for offensive rebounds in 1978-79, breaking his own record. He currently holds six of the top ten places for offensive rebounds in a season. Moses was selected to four All-NBA First and Second Teams and named to the NBA All-Defensive First and Second Teams once each. In 1982 and 1983, he won his second and third NBA Most Valuable Player Awards while guiding the Philadelphia 76ers to the 1983 NBA Finals Championship alongside Maurice Cheeks, Andrew Toney and Dr. J. Malone was named the 1983 NBA Finals MVP as he pulled down 206 rebounds and scored 338 points in 13 games. Moses played for the Utah Stars, Spirits of St. Louis, Buffalo Braves, Houston Rockets, Philadelphia 76ers, Atlanta Hawks, Milwaukee Bucks and San Antonio Spurs. He was a 13-time All-Star Game selection including 12 consecutive from 1978-1989. He retired after the 1994-95 season with 29,580 points, 17,834 total rebounds, 1,936 assists, 1,199 blocks and an unofficial 4,264 turnovers. In 1996, Malone was named one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History. Moses Malone was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2001.