Boston Celtics: The 25 Most Hated Opponents
By Bill Speros
13. Moses Malone
Moses Malone died in 2105 at the all-too-young age of 60. It took his death for many to realize and appreciate his talents, including 3 MVP awards and a place among the top six dominant centers of all time. Malone was the first player to go from preps to the pros. A path eventually followed by Darryl Dawkins, Kevin Garnett and Kobe Bryant.
The “Chairman of the Boards” has 2,566 more offensive rebounds than anyone in NBA/ABA history. As a player, Malone was regarded as a mean, gruff, SOB by many opponents and fans. During the 1981 NBA Finals while Houston played Boston, he said he “could take four guys off the streets of Petersburg (Va.) and beat the Celtics.” Not a good move. After the Celtics won their 14th NBA title in that series in six games, Bird spotted a sign painted on a bed sheet at the team’s City Hall victory rally that read: “Moses Malone Eats (bleep).” Bird saw the sign and snickered, “Moses does eat (bleep).” The crowd loved it.
Next: No. 12 -- Toney