He came right out of high school to become one of the most dominant big men in NBA history. A rebounding machine he once grabbed 37 boards in a single game and holds the league record for offensive rebounds in a career. In 1981 he averaged 31 points and nearly 15 rebounds a game, led the Houston Rockets to the NBA finals and was declared the league MVP for the second time. Following the 1982 season the Rockets traded him to the Philadelphia 76ers and Moses Malone finally found a place where all the pieces came together.
Teamed with the legendary Dr J and all-stars Maurice Cheeks, Andrew Tony and Bobby Jones the Sixers tore through the regular season like a blender through mango winding up with 65 wins and Malone won his third MVP award. He predicted the Sixers would go "four, four, four" in the playoffs (meaning they'd sweep each of the series they'd play in) and win it all. He wasn't far off as the team lost only one game in the second round to go "four, five, four". It was one of the most dominating seasons in NBA history and none of it would have been possible without Moses, who would go on to play another 12 years in the league and ultimately be named one of the NBA's 50 greatest players.
As much as he was a part of the daily sports discourse during the 80's Malone pretty effective disappeared after retiring. So what's he doing these days?
Well, unlike a lot of sports stars who squander the riches that come their way and wind up hard luck stories on the news, Malone lives happily and quite comfortably these days just outside of Houston Texas. "What am I doing? I'm doing nothing, just relaxing and enjoying life. I did 21 years of hard labor in the NBA, invested my money right, so I'm set. I earned the right to relax and enjoy, you know?" He isn't without his opinion of current NBA players either "I bet if I came out (of retirement) I could still be one of the top five centers in the league ain't that something? There are just so few centers left!" Amen.
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| Left: Moses Malone and Dr J hold the 1983 NBA championship trophy. Right: Moses today. |
so happy to hear the good job he did after the hard up bringing great job moses
ReplyDeleteI always liked Moses. I am very delighted and quite "surprised" that he is doing well. I alway thought he was a country bumpkin and would end up blowing his fortune.......... I'm very glad for Mo,,,,,,,,,,, he deserves a good life after working so hard all those years.
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