Moses Malone

Moses Malone is a former professional basketball player who spent time in both the American Basketball Association (ABA) and the National Basketball Association (NBA). In all, Malone played over 20 years for the two leagues and logged time with 10 different teams over that span.

Among his many other accomplishments, Moses Malone became the first professional basketball player to ever sign with a franchise directly out of high school when he signed with the ABA’s Utah Stars.

Over the course of his professional basketball career, Malone managed to average 20.3 points and 12.3 rebounds per game and was part of the 1982/83 NBA Champion Philadelphia 76ers. Malone was also named the NBA MVP for the 1982/83 season as well as when he was with the Houston Rockets during the 1978/79 season.

Malone was named to the NBA all-star game 12 times over the course of his career, including 11 straight seasons from 1978 to 1989. Malone eventually retired after the 1994/95 season and was elected into the National Basketball Hall of Fame in 2001. http://www.nba.com/history/players/malonem_stats.html

After playing his first two professional seasons in the ABA, Moses Malone moved to the NBA and the Houston Rockets during the 1976/77 season. It was with Houston that Malone blossomed into the Hall of Fame player he is known as today.

In his third season with the Rockets, Malone began a string of 11 straight seasons in which he would average more than 20 points per game while attending the All-Star game every year. Malone was named the 1978/79 NBA MVP with the Rockets when he averaged 24.8 points, and 17.6 rebounds per game.

Malone’s arguably best all-around season was his final year with the Rockets when he average 31.1 points per game and hauled down 14.7 rebounds per contest in the 1981/82 season. Despite averaging over 24 points and 17 rebounds for his team in the postseason the Rockets were bounced from the playoffs in the first round. That off-season he was traded to the Philadelphia 76ers. http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/m/malonmo01.html

Moses Malone would play 13 years after his stint with the Houston Rockets and would become well traveled after his trade to the Philadelphia 76ers prior to the 1982/83 season. Over his final 13 years in the NBA Malone would end up playing for six different teams.

His longest stay with any one team after Houston was with the 76ers. In the 1982/83 season he helped lead Philadelphia to an NBA Championship while he earned the NBA Finals MVP award and the league’s MVP award as well. After the 1985/86 season Malone was traded to the Washington Bullets where he played two seasons before signing with the Atlanta Hawks.

In his final season with Atlanta, the 1990/91 season, Malone’s scoring dropped precipitously as he averaged a career low 10.6 points per game thanks in large part to a move to the bench. Malone started just 15 of the 82 games he appeared in and it was the first time in his career he averaged less than 13 points a game over the course of the season.

Before the 1991/92 season Malone signed with the Milwaukee Bucks and he appeared to be bouncing back as he started 77 of 82 games and averaged 15.6 points per game. That season would be the last in which Malone started a game. Injuries and age saw him play in just 11 games for Milwaukee the following year and he averaged a new career low 4.5 points per contest.

In 1993 Malone returned to Philadelphia to play in 55 games and in 1994 he played the final 17 games of his professional career with the San Antonio Spurs. http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/m/malonmo01.html