Moses Malone

Moses Eugene Malone, born March 23, 1955, in Petersburg, Virginia, was the first player to successfully transition directly from high school to professional basketball in the United States — a pioneer whose physical dominance and relentless work ethic redefined what the center position could accomplish in professional basketball. Malone signed with the ABA's Utah Stars in 1974 straight from Petersburg High School, bypassing college entirely, and his professional career eventually brought him to the NBA via the Buffalo Braves and Houston Rockets. When the Philadelphia 76ers acquired Malone as a free agent in 1982, they already had Julius Erving, Maurice Cheeks, Andrew Toney, and Bobby Jones. But with Malone as their interior anchor, Philadelphia became not just a contender but an overwhelming force. He predicted the 76ers would sweep the 1983 Playoffs in three rounds — "Fo, Fo, Fo" — and very nearly delivered. Philadelphia went 12-1, lost only a single playoff game across the entire postseason, and swept the Los Angeles Lakers in four straight games to claim the NBA championship. Malone was named Finals MVP with averages of 25.8 points, 18.0 rebounds, and 1.3 blocks per game — one of the most dominant Finals performances by a center in NBA history. He won three NBA Most Valuable Player Awards (1979, 1982, 1983), made 13 All-Star appearances, and retired with 27,409 career points and 17,834 career rebounds — totals placing him among the top five in both categories in NBA history. He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2001. Moses Malone passed away unexpectedly on September 13, 2015, at the age of 60, leaving a legacy as one of the most physically dominant and hardest-working players the professional game has ever produced. The 1983 championship with Philadelphia remains the defining championship in 76ers history after 1967, and his name is inseparable from that title.