For all the Shawn Kemps, Kevin Garnetts and other Kobe Bryants and LeBron Jameses, Moses Malone was a trailblazer, going straight from high school to the ABA professional circuit in 1974. Twenty years later, he was still talked about as he closed the ban with the San Antonio Spurs. Journey of one of the most unknown MVPs in the League, yet three-time winner of the trophy!
The beginnings of Moses Malone (born March 23, 1955) date back to the defunct ABA. The colossus from Petersburg (Virginia) – 2.08 m and 118 kg – was drafted by the Utah Stars in 1974. At 19, he went directly from high school to the professional circuit. A Kevin Garnett 20 years ahead. Malone played two seasons in this League – being named to the All-rookie team and participating in the 1975 ABA All-Star Game – before making a brief stay in Buffalo and settling down in Houston.
A pioneer for the entire generation of high school students
In 1976, when he arrived in the NBA, Moses Eugene Malone already had a reputation as a good rebounder. Three years later, with an average of 17.6 catches and 24.8 points, he won his first regular season MVP title. Led by Calvin Murphy, Rudy Tomjanovich (future coach of the Rockets champions in 1994 and 95) and Mike Dunleavy (former coach of the Clippers), Houston reached the NBA Finals in 1981. There, Larry Bird's Boston won (4-2) . In Texas, Malone found more than just a team. “ A real family around Tom Nissalke, our coach “, he will explain later.
It was this same coach who trained him during his rookie season with the Stars. Malone is making steady progress. In 1981-82, he once again made a splash with more than 31 points and 14.7 rebounds per game. Second MVP title. Free agent protected during the following summer, Malone does not have all the cards in hand but he wants to join the top team that has been set up in Philadelphia with Julius Erving, Maurice Cheeks, Bobby Jones and Andrew Toney . He gave his agreement to the Sixers on September 2. Houston “matches” Philly's offer but agrees to release Malone in exchange for Caldwell Jones and a first round of Draft.
Moses does not miss his beginnings in the city of brotherly love. He leads the way in rebounds (15.3 per game) for the third season in a row and still remains very productive on offense (24.5 pts). For the second year in a row, he was named best player in the League. The influence of “Dr. J” does not alter Moses' performance in any way.
With his nine seasons on the pro circuit including seven in the NBA, the latter plays on velvet against mostly inexperienced interiors. The playoffs that follow are a treat with this “Dream team” ahead of time. Philadelphia will only drop one game in the spring of 1983. New York (0-4), Milwaukee (1-4) and Los Angeles, in the Finals (0-4), are cut into pieces. The coach, Billy Cunningham, has a very simple formula to describe the level of play of the Sixers, beaten 4-2 by the Lakers a year earlier: “ The difference from the 1981-82 season is Moses “.
In the Finals, against LA, Malone ridicules Kareem Abdul-Jabbar on rebounds (72-30). He was obviously elected MVP.
Best rebounder in the NBA five seasons in a row
The 1983-84 season was less brilliant. Malone misses ten games as well as the All-Star Game with an ankle injury. With an average of 22.7 points, he still made the All-NBA Second team. The playoffs reflect a delicate year: the reigning champions came out ingloriously (3-2) in the first round by Darryl Dawkins' New Jersey.
Philadelphia did it again the following season with Malone at 13 rebounds per game. At the time, he was the first player to dominate this statistical category for the fifth consecutive year. A Conference final lost against Boston (4-1) will leave the Sixers with a lot of regrets. And surely even more to Malone who is preparing to spend his last year in Philadelphia. He left the Sixers with a serious eye injury and did not see the color of the playoffs in 1986. For his 10th NBA season.
Malone traveled extensively beginning in the 1986-87 fiscal year. After Utah, Saint-Louis (ABA), Buffalo, Houston and Philadelphia, he spent two years in Washington and three seasons in Atlanta, alongside Dominique Wilkins.
With the Hawks, Malone gets to know the bench for the first time in his career. The new coach, Bob Weiss, preferred back-up pivot Jon Koncak for the last 67 matches of the 1990-91 season. Malone headed to Milwaukee for two short years before returning to the Sixers in 1993-94 and serving as tutor to big man Shawn Bradley.
Good dough, the triple MVP accepts the mission before ending his journey in San Antonio to guide a racket crack, David Robinson. Seriously injured in the right leg in January 1995, Moses Malone was unfortunately of no help to the “Admiral”. Game over.
Moses Malone, mentor of Charles Barkley
Six years later, and from his first candidacy, he entered the Hall Of Fame. Unfortunately, at only 60 years old, he was found dead in a hotel in 2015. The medical examiner concluded that he died of natural causes, in his sleep, caused by cardiovascular problems and hypertension. Malone had just seen a specialist for an arrhythmia problem.
Many NBA players will be present to say goodbye to Malone in the Lakewood church in Houston, and a very emotional Charles Barkley delivered the eulogy. In Philly, Malone had taken “Sir Charles” under his wing. The two players actually lived in the same building after Charles Barkley's Draft in 1984. But his acclimatization did not really go as planned. “I asked him, 'Moses, why don't I play?' » Barkley said at the funeral. “He replied: 'Because you are fat and lazy.' I said, “I don’t understand.” And he replied: “Which part do you not understand, fat or lazy? “.
Legend has it that Charles Barkley then “worked hard” before and after training with Moses Malone in order to lose more than 20 kilos and take charge of a career which then took him to the Hall of Fame. What saved him was above all having understood the veteran's message and not having turned away in the face of criticism.
“I appreciate that Moses Malone took time for me, but also, I thank God that he was smart enough to accept criticism” he explains. “A lot of guys today don’t accept it. Moses told me I was fat and lazy, and I was. There are probably a hundred guys that I've said during my career or my consulting life, “Once he gets this figured out, he'll be unstoppable in the NBA.” But they never, ever understand…. “.
HIGHLIGHTS
PALMARES
Champion : 1983
MVP: 1979, 1982, 1983
MVP Finals : 1983
All-Star game : 12 selections
Top rebounder : 1979, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984 and 1985.
Points : 29,580 (20.6 points per game)
Rebounds : 17,834 (12.2 rebounds per game)
| Moses Malone | Percentage | Rebounds | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | MJ | Min | Shots | 3pts | L.F. | Off | Def | Early | Pd | Party | Int | Bp | Ct | Pts |
| 1976-77 * | All Teams | 82 | 31 | 48.0 | 69.3 | 5.3 | 7.7 | 13.1 | 1.1 | 3.4 | 0.8 | 2.2 | 13.2 | ||
| 1976-77 * | HOU | 80 | 31 | 48.0 | 69.3 | 5.5 | 7.9 | 13.4 | 1.1 | 3.4 | 0.8 | 2.3 | 13.5 | ||
| 1976-77 * | BUF | 2 | 3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | ||
| 1977-78 | HOU | 59 | 36 | 49.9 | 71.8 | 6.4 | 8.6 | 15.0 | 0.5 | 3.0 | 0.8 | 3.7 | 1.3 | 19.4 | |
| 1978-79 ★ | HOU | 82 | 41 | 54.0 | 73.9 | 7.2 | 10.5 | 17.6 | 1.8 | 2.7 | 1.0 | 4.0 | 1.5 | 24.8 | |
| 1979-80 | HOU | 82 | 38 | 50.2 | 0.0 | 71.9 | 7.0 | 7.5 | 14.5 | 1.8 | 2.6 | 1.0 | 3.7 | 1.3 | 25.8 |
| 1980-81 | HOU | 80 | 41 | 52.2 | 33.3 | 75.7 | 5.9 | 8.8 | 14.8 | 1.8 | 2.8 | 1.0 | 3.9 | 1.9 | 27.8 |
| 1981-82 ★ | HOU | 81 | 42 | 51.9 | 0.0 | 76.2 | 6.9 | 7.8 | 14.7 | 1.8 | 2.6 | 0.9 | 3.6 | 1.5 | 31.1 |
| 1982-83 ★ | PHL | 78 | 38 | 50.1 | 0.0 | 76.1 | 5.7 | 9.6 | 15.3 | 1.3 | 2.6 | 1.1 | 3.4 | 2.0 | 24.5 |
| 1983-84 | PHL | 71 | 37 | 48.3 | 0.0 | 75.0 | 5.0 | 8.4 | 13.4 | 1.4 | 2.7 | 1.0 | 3.5 | 1.6 | 22.7 |
| 1984-85 | PHL | 79 | 37 | 46.9 | 0.0 | 81.5 | 4.9 | 8.2 | 13.1 | 1.7 | 2.7 | 0.9 | 3.6 | 1.6 | 24.6 |
| 1985-86 | PHL | 74 | 37 | 45.8 | 0.0 | 78.7 | 4.6 | 7.2 | 11.8 | 1.2 | 2.6 | 0.9 | 3.5 | 1.0 | 23.8 |
| 1986-87 | W.A.S. | 73 | 34 | 45.4 | 0.0 | 82.3 | 4.7 | 6.6 | 11.3 | 1.7 | 1.9 | 0.8 | 2.8 | 1.3 | 24.1 |
| 1987-88 | W.A.S. | 79 | 34 | 48.7 | 28.6 | 78.8 | 4.7 | 6.5 | 11.2 | 1.4 | 2.0 | 0.8 | 3.2 | 0.9 | 20.3 |
| 1988-89 | ATL | 81 | 36 | 49.1 | 0.0 | 78.9 | 4.8 | 7.0 | 11.8 | 1.4 | 1.9 | 1.0 | 3.0 | 1.2 | 20.2 |
| 1989-90 | ATL | 81 | 34 | 48.0 | 11.1 | 78.1 | 4.5 | 5.5 | 10.0 | 1.6 | 2.0 | 0.6 | 2.9 | 1.0 | 18.9 |
| 1990-91 | ATL | 82 | 23 | 46.8 | 0.0 | 83.1 | 3.3 | 4.8 | 8.1 | 0.8 | 1.6 | 0.4 | 1.7 | 0.9 | 10.6 |
| 1991-92 | MIL | 82 | 31 | 47.4 | 37.5 | 78.6 | 3.9 | 5.2 | 9.1 | 1.1 | 1.7 | 0.9 | 1.8 | 0.8 | 15.6 |
| 1992-93 | MIL | 11 | 10 | 31.0 | 0.0 | 77.4 | 2.0 | 2.2 | 4.2 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 0.1 | 0.9 | 0.7 | 4.6 |
| 1993-94 | PHL | 55 | 11 | 44.0 | 0.0 | 76.9 | 1.9 | 2.2 | 4.1 | 0.6 | 1.0 | 0.2 | 1.1 | 0.3 | 5.4 |
| 1994-95 | SAN | 17 | 9 | 37.1 | 50.0 | 68.8 | 1.2 | 1.5 | 2.7 | 0.4 | 0.9 | 0.1 | 0.7 | 0.2 | 2.9 |
| Total | 1329 | 34 | 49.1 | 10.0 | 76.9 | 5.1 | 7.1 | 12.2 | 1.4 | 2.3 | 0.8 | 3.1 | 1.3 | 20.6 | |
How to read the stats? MJ = matches played; Min = Minutes; Shots = Successful shots / Attempted shots; 3pts = 3-points / 3-points attempted; LF = free throws made / free throws attempted; Off = offensive rebound; Def=defensive rebound; Tot = Total rebounds; Pd = assists; Fte: Personal fouls; Int = Intercepts; Bp = Lost balls; Ct: Against; Pts = Points.
