R.I.P. Moses Malone

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/13645531/three-nba-mvp-moses-malone-dies-age-60




Three-time NBA MVP and Pro Basketball Hall of Famer Moses Malone died Sunday at the age of 60.

Malone, named one of the NBA's 50 greatest players, was the Finals MVP in 1983, as he led the Philadelphia 76ers to the title.

"It is with a deep sense of sadness that the Sixers family mourns the sudden loss of Moses Malone. It is difficult to express what his contributions to this organization -- both as a friend and player -- have meant to us, the city of Philadelphia and his faithful fans," the 76ers said in a statement Sunday.


Moses Belongs To Very Elite Club

Three-time NBA MVP Moses Malone was one of only four players to accumulate 25,000 points and 15,000 rebounds over his NBA career, which spanned 20 seasons.

PLAYER.............................PTS................REBS.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar..........38,387............17,440
Wilt Chamberlain................31,419............23,924
Moses Malone.....................27,409...........16,212
Elvin Hayes........................27,313...........16,279

"Moses holds a special place in our hearts and will forever be remembered as a genuine icon and pillar of the most storied era in the history of Philadelphia 76ers basketball. No one person has ever conveyed more with so few words - including three of the most iconic in this city's history. His generosity, towering personality and incomparable sense of humor will truly be missed. We will keep his family in our thoughts and prayers and as we are once again reminded of the preciousness of life."

The 6-foot-10 center, nicknamed the "Chairman of the Boards," averaged a double-double while playing for eight teams over 20 NBA seasons and led the league in rebounding six times. The 12-time All-Star averaged 20.6 points per game and 12.2 rebounds over his career.


Moses Malone was a three-time MVP and Pro Basketball Hall of Famer who scored 27,409 points and grabbed 16,212 rebounds over an NBA career that spanned 20 seasons. Focus on Sport/Getty Images


His 16,212 rebounds still rank fifth on the NBA's all-time list, while his 27,409 career points rank eighth.

Malone was the first player to go pro right out of high school, signing with the Utah Stars of the American Basketball Association in 1974. He played the following season for the Spirits of St. Louis before moving to the Buffalo Braves after the ABA-NBA merger in 1976.

He also played for the Houston Rockets, 76ers (twice), Washington Bullets, Atlanta Hawks and the San Antonio Spurs, with whom he finished his career during the 1994-95 season.

His No. 24 was retired by the Rockets, with whom he won the MVP in 1979 and 1982. He won his third MVP with the 76ers in 1983.

He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2001.

Former Rockets teammate John Lucas and 76ers great Allen Iverson were among those paying their respects on Twitter.


Coach John Lucas
‏@CoachJohnLucas1
Moses Malone,I will miss you no we all will miss you. Just left practice on your court. Well Done as always MVP





Houston RocketsVerified account
‏@HoustonRockets
R.I.P. to Rockets legend Moses Malone. You will be missed. #LegacyOfBigs





Allen Iverson ✔ @alleniverson
My condolences to the family and friends of Moses Malone. You will truly be missed. Rest in peace Big Mo!!!
7:05 AM - 13 Sep 2015
 2,112 2,112 Retweets   2,057 2,057 favorites




bob
MY NOTE:  If you like big, bruising, punishing big men then you had to love Moses.  He probably didn't even know what 'finesse' was, much less be able to spell it, he pounded everybody into paste.  You could not keep him off the offensive boards.  I think I first started to fall in love with offensive rebounding watching Moses just move people out of the way to get the board.  He was like the tide, he just kept coming and coming and coming.  Out of his 16,212 NBA rebounds, 6731 were offensive.  That's 41%.  41%!!  They said, about Oakland A's base stealer Ricky Henderson, that walking him was the same as giving him a double because he'd steal 2nd anyway.  Well, throwing the ball up at the rim with Moses on the court was like giving him a rebound and a bucket.  He also shot a respectable 76% from the line.  His first two years were spent in the ABA, one with the Utah Stars and the other with the Spirits of St. Louis.  The numbers provided above are for NBA only.

Rest in Peace, big guy, you made basketball exciting for millions of us.


http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/m/malonmo01.html



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One of my favorite players. Too bad he was never a Celtic.

What a handful in the paint. Basketball-Reference list him at 215 lbs. , but that had to be in his 1st year or so. Nba .com has him at 260 lbs. which I believe is much more realistic. One of the very best for sure as his selection to the NBA'S top 50 verifies.

swish

Moses Malone, Darryl Dawkins, big, big guys who died much too soon, Malone was a beast in the paint, Dawkins just a huge guy with dunking skills that were unbelievable.

It is sad, we are losing these guys too early. Did their size have something to do with it? Pressure on the heart? It seems like there have been many big guys who have died early in life.

They had an impact on the game, there is no doubt about that. RIP both of you.

Rosalie

swish wrote:What a handful in the paint. Basketball-Reference list him at 215 lbs. , but that had to be in his 1st year or so.   Nba .com has him at 260 lbs. which I believe is much more realistic. One of the very best for sure as his selection to the NBA'S top 50 verifies.

swish

swish,

215#? Must be a typo. There is no way, NO WAY, that man was 6'10"-6'11", 215#. 251 is more like it, although the number 260 does ring a bell.


bob


.

Bob,

I'm pretty sure that Basketball reference list players heights and weights from their FIRST season only.

look up Amir Johnson. he's listed at 6-9 and 210 I think, like he was as an 18YO rookie. Johnson is more like 6-10, 240 or so today.

Remember Malone came right from High school (instead of going to play with John Lucas at U of Maryland) so he was only 18-19YO his rookie year. so he most likely was on the 215 range then.

Below link was taken from the NBA encyclopedia.

 
Moses Malone

One of the game's all-time great centers, Moses Malone was a relentless rebounder and effective scorer who made the jump from high school to a pro career that lasted 21 years. The third-leading rebounder and sixth-leading scorer in combined NBA/ABA history, he was honored in 1996-97 as a member of the NBA's 50th Anniversary All-Time Team. At the age of 19, when he was a lean and lanky 6-10 man-child, Malone had no trouble making the jump from Petersburg (Va.) High School to the Utah Stars of the ABA.


Above article describes him as a lean and lanky 19 year old when he joined the Utah Jazz of the ABA.    He sure did bulk-up over the years.

swish

swish wrote:Below link was taken from the NBA encyclopedia.

 
Moses Malone

One of the game's all-time great centers, Moses Malone was a relentless rebounder and effective scorer who made the jump from high school to a pro career that lasted 21 years. The third-leading rebounder and sixth-leading scorer in combined NBA/ABA history, he was honored in 1996-97 as a member of the NBA's 50th Anniversary All-Time Team. At the age of 19, when he was a lean and lanky 6-10 man-child, Malone had no trouble making the jump from Petersburg (Va.) High School to the Utah Stars of the ABA.


Above article describes him as a lean and lanky 19 year old when he joined the Utah Jazz of the ABA.    He sure did bulk-up over the years.

swish

Swish,

That's the Utah Stars, not the Jazz. The Jazz came from Nwalins after the Stars didn't make the leap to the NBA.


bob


.

Bob

Good catch on the Jazz-Stars correction.

swish

Moses was a great player, but my most vivid memory was from 1981 when the Celtics played the Rockets in the NBA Finals.

The Rockets had a losing regular season record at 40-42, but, up to Game 5, they showed they definitely belonged in the finals with the Celtics. So, no one could blame Moses Malone for doing some trash-talking. Earlier, he had simply declared, "Boston ain't that good." Before Game 5, though, Malone went a little too far, saying, "I could get four guys off the street in Petersburg (Virginia, Malone's hometown) and beat them." This was all coach Bill Fitch would need to motivate his troops.

With Bird still struggling offensively, Cedric Maxwell shouldered the load, scoring 28 points and pulling down 15 rebounds and sparking several fast breaks to a Celtics rout, 109-80.

When Boston won the title, Larry Bird stood in front of 100K people on Boston City Hall Plaza and said one thing to the crowd - "Moses Can Go Eat Shit"

The best part of that story is that it was on television and when Bird spoke those unforgetable words, I am sure all of Houston was ready to hang him! Malone opened the can and Bird shoved it down their throats. Max played a great series walking away with the MVP and I am sure Malone thought about that stupid statement he made for a long time.