Houston Sports - Moses Malone

Moses Malone

Born: March 23, 1955

Sport: Basketball (13-time All-Star, ABA All-Time Team, 8-time All-NBA, 3-time MVP, Hall of Fame) 

Professional football season ended today in Houston, as our local team once again failed to advance beyond the second round of the playoffs.  There are three weeks before the Olympics begin and a few more after that until baseball's spring training gets going, which means basketball has the city's undivided attention for a little while.  Fortunately our local team is doing fairly well, competing hard with some of the best teams in the league while holding their record on a trajectory to be relevant once the postseason arrives.  Houston has a history of having some of the very best big men to ever play the game, so this week we'll look at the story of a dominant center who played a good chunk of his legendary career for the Rockets - Moses Malone. 

The Summit was the home of the Rockets during Moses Malone's time with Houston

The childhood for Moses Malone in Petersburg, Virginia, was a difficult one that included family turmoil, financial hardship, and societal strife.  Virginia was still segregated in the 1950s, so when Moses Malone (the father of our story's focus who shared the same name) left his wife, Mary, the rest of the family was left with very little economic opportunity.  Young Moses did odd jobs to help make ends meet, such as selling newspapers and shining shoes, but it was basketball that provided an opportunity for the young man to escape his circumstances.  Playing for the Petersburg Crimson Wave, the towering Malone led his team to success.  During his final two seasons the team won 50 consecutive games and two state championships, earning him a fair share of recognition.  Malone initially agreed to play college basketball for the University of Maryland, but changed his mind and became the first modern player to jump straight from high school into the professional ranks when the Utah Stars of the American Basketball Association selected him with their third round selection in the 1974 ABA Draft. 

The stakes for Moses Malone were as high as the attention he received, but the $1 million dollar contract he received made it worthwhile.  He found success early, earning selections to the All-Rookie and All-Star teams in 1975, but his team was eliminated from the playoffs in the first round in spite of his strong defense and rebounding, coupled with an uptick in offensive production.  The NBA's Chicago Bulls tried drafting him the following offseason, but an existing rule that players had to be three years beyond their high school degree nullified the selection.  But Malone still wound up changing teams anyway after starting the season in the bench due to an injury, when Utah was forced to fold early in the year and sold off their players to pay down financial obligations.  Malone was shipped off to play for the Spirits of St. Louis along with three teammates, but the team ended their season with a losing record and did not make the playoffs.  When the NBA/ABA merger occurred after the 1975 season and the Spirits were not included as one of the teams in the new combined league, another change was forthcoming.  In a dizzying series of moves Malone was released by the New Orleans Jazz, who had previously taken him in a pre-merger draft of underage players, and chosen instead by the Portland Trailblazers in the ABA Dispersal Draft... only to be traded just before the season to the Boston Braves, who played two games before shipping him off to the Houston Rockets.  If you're counting, that's six teams in less than a full season!  He finally found a home, however, and Houston was happy to have the talented big man as he recorded a record 437 offensive rebounds by the end of the year.  Malone and the Rockets advanced to the conference finals where they finally fell to the Philadelphia 76ers.  It was his first taste of postseason arrives but certainly not his last. 

Finally finding stability with a team led to more growth and success in Moses Malone's game, and despite missing the final 23 games of the 1977-78 season he reached his first NBA All-Star team.  One year later he led the league in rebounds and was selected as the league MVP.  After a dip to just second in the NBA in rebounds during the '79-80 season, Malone returned to the top spot the next year and helped Houston reach the NBA Finals in their first campaign as a member of the Western Conference.  Despite a star performance by their big man, the Rockets fell in six games to Larry Bird's Boston Celtics.  The following season was Malone's final year in Houston and despite only reaching 46 wins he performed well enough to merit a second MVP award.  His time with the Rockets yielded five All-Star appearances and four All-NBA selections, not to mention a marriage to Alfreda Gill with whom he would have two sons, but when the team was sold in 1982 the new ownership decided a new contract didn't fit the direction.  On the other hand, the Philadelphia 76ers had lost a championship series to the LA Lakers in part due to the dominance of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and they saw a chance to add the missing piece to their title puzzle.  They were right, and Philadelphia not only reached the Finals with Malone in 1983 but swept the Lakers.  Malone became the first player to win back-to-back MVP awards with different teams, but it would be the last time he would ever reach the league Finals.  

Moses Malone continued to perform at a high level by earning All-Star selections during all four of his years with Philadelphia, both years with the Washington Bullets, and his first season with the Atlanta Hawks.  By that point he was 33 and as the calendar rolled over to the 90s the Hawks decided to demote Malone to a backup.  For the first time since his rookie season he was absent from the All-Star team, but although he was coming off the bench he continued to climb numerous career leader boards.  Malone became the all-time leader in made free throws in 1991, followed quickly by his 25,000th point and 15,000th rebound.  He signed with the Milwaukee Bucks for a chance to start once again, but lost nearly all of his second year to a herniated disc.  Philadelphia brought Malone back for one season to mentor rookie Shawn Bradley, and the San Antonio Spurs did the same during the 1994-95 season for newcomer David Robinson.  In the final game of his career, Malone tossed up a shot at the buzzer from the opposite free throw line, connecting for just the eighth three-pointer of his 21 year pro career and finishing with 29,580 career points, which still stands as the #10 total of all time (note: this amount includes ABA numbers, but even without those two seasons he remains at #12).  He holds all-time records for offensive rebounds and consecutive games without fouling out, which is surprising given his position and style of play.  After retiring, the Chairman of the Boards had his number retired by both the Rockets and 76ers, and he was inducted into the Hall of Fame during his first year of eligibility in 2001.  On September 13, 2005, Malone was scheduled to play a charity golf tournament at the age of 60, but did not show for breakfast or his tee time.  He was found unresponsive in his hotel room, having passed away from heart disease after having previously complained of an irregular heartbeat.  As of the 75th anniversary of the NBA he remains recognized as one of the very best to play the game and is a member of the top 75 players list that was released in 2021.

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