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NBA: Moses Malone’s Legacy Extends Beyond Numbers

By Phil Watson

Moses Malone, shown at a gathering of NBA legends as part of the 2005 NBA Legends Tour, sponsored by the USO. (Photo by Cpl. Lameen Witter via Wikimedia Commons/This image or file is in the public domain because it contains materials that originally came from the United States Marine Corps. As a work of the U.S. federal government, the image is in the public domain.)
Moses Malone, shown at a gathering of NBA legends as part of the 2005 NBA Legends Tour, sponsored by the USO. (Photo by Cpl. Lameen Witter via Wikimedia Commons/This image or file is in the public domain because it contains materials that originally came from the United States Marine Corps. As a work of the U.S. federal government, the image is in the public domain.) /
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There was a bridging of eras when Moses Malone retired after the 1994-95 NBA season.

Kevin Garnett, a high school star from South Carolina who moved to Chicago to play at Farragut Career Academy, was preparing to become the first high-school player in 20 years to declare himself eligible for the NBA Draft.

ALSO ON HOOPSHABIT: 50 Greatest NBA Players of the 1980s

A generation earlier, Moses Malone had started the trend when he jumped from Petersburg (Va.) High School to the Utah Stars of the now-defunct American Basketball Association.

According to a report, Malone died Sunday. He was 60 years old.

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Malone was shockingly effective as a raw, 19-year-old rookie for the Stars in 1974-75. With an offensive repertoire limited to dunks and offensive rebound putbacks, the 6-foot-10, 205-pound rail led the ABA with 455 offensive boards—something that would be his calling card throughout his 21 professional seasons—and averaged 18.8 points and 14.6 rebounds per game.

Again: As a 19-year-old.

Malone traveled about as circuitous a route as a player could for being a star, playing for nine different teams in a career that spanned from 1974-95.

From Salt Lake City through St. Louis, Portland (where he never actually played), Buffalo, Houston, Philadelphia (twice), Washington, Atlanta, Milwaukee and San Antonio, Malone was the Chairman of the Boards, with six rebounding titles—including five straight from 1980-81 through 1984-85.

He led his league in offensive rebounds nine times, including the NBA seven straight seasons from 1976-77 through 1982-83 and again in 1989-90 at the age of 34.

Since the ABA-NBA merger in 1976, Malone is on a short list of players to average at least 15 rebounds per game in a season.

How short is that list? It’s Malone and Dennis Rodman.

He won three NBA MVP awards, two while with the Houston Rockets in 1978-79 and 1981-82 and a third while leading the Philadelphia 76ers to the NBA title in 1982-83, the year he famously predicted the Sixers would roll through the playoffs in, ‘Fo’, fo’, fo’,” meaning three straight sweeps.

Malone almost delivered, save for a Game 4 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks in the Eastern Conference Finals. Philadelphia was 12-1 while steamrolling to the championship.

He was a 12-time NBA All-Star and was an ABA All-Star in 1975.

And he grew into much more than the pencil-thin teenager, bulking up over the years and becoming a nearly unstoppable force under the basket, whether rebounding or scoring.

In six seasons with the Rockets, Malone averaged 24 points and 15 rebounds per game and in four years with the Sixers from 1982-86, he put up 23.9 points and 13.4 boards a night.

His career averages took a hit over the final five years of his career, when he transitioned from star to seldom-used reserve, but he still put up marks of 20.3 points and 12.3 rebounds for his career.

The NBA started charting offensive rebounds in 1973 and no one has more of them than Malone, 6,731 in all, and his 16,212 total rebounds in the NBA are fifth-most all-time.

He’s also in the top 10 on the scoring his, eighth with 27,409 career NBA points, putting up 29,580 when his two ABA seasons are included.

Malone was a first-ballot Hall of Famer, inducted in the Springfield, Mass., shrine in 2001.

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    • HoopsHabit ranked Malone as the No. 3 player of the 1980s in a piece published last December, behind only Larry Bird and Magic Johnson.

    In the decade, Malone averaged 24.5 points and 13.2 rebounds per game, averaging 77.8 games per season.

    He may not have been the brightest of stars, overshadowed by Bird and Magic in his own era and by Julius Erving on his own Philadelphia team, but he was the best center of the 1980s and one of the best ever.

    When those prep players made their way to the NBA in the 1990s and early 21st century, they may not have ever realized that it was Moses Malone who opened the door for them.

    And he’s gone far, far too soon.

    Next: NBA: 50 Greatest Players Of All Time

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