By David Jordan Jr
The name Moses is synonymous with leading. Moses led his people to the promised land, which was filled with beauty, triumph and all of the things promised by GOD for being faithful and persistent. Former ABA/NBA legend, Top 50 All Time NBA Player and NBA Hall Of Famer passed away this weekend at the youthful age of 60 years old. Moses Malone is the first basketball player to ever go pro straight out of high school when he was drafted by the Utah Stars of the ABA in 1974.
A playing career that spanned 21 seasons (2 years in the ABA & 19 years in the NBA) Moses Malone was the bridge to many things that transpired in the game of basketball after he began his professional career. The first prep to pro player, Malone was the pioneer that would lead to many great prep players making the jump. Daryl Dawkins, drafted by the Philadelphia 76ers (ironically, Moses would replace Dawkins at Center and lead the team to the NBA Championship in 1983) Kevin Garnett and Kobe Bryant (from the city of Philadelphia) all owe the faith that GMs and owners had in taking them with the belief of possible future success to Moses. Moses came in to the league (both ABA & NBA) at a time when the Center position was deemed to be the most important part to a team’s success. Battling nightly against ABA/NBA greats on the pivot; Artist Gilmore, Bill Walton, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Bob Lanier, Wes Unseld, Dan Issel, Robert Parrish & Dave Cowens to name a few centers of major relevance, these greats made Moses great.
The on the court training Moses would have received by electing to attend the University of Maryland where he had signed a national letter of intent could not have prepared him and groomed him as quickly as the on the court schooling he received by being thrown in the NBA fire and not only battling, but holding his own and elevating over the great NBA centers during different times in his professional basketball career. Moses was also one of the first NBA Players to make it fashionable to “Just Do It” by adorning the Nike Swoosh sign on his feet. Today’s NBA is filled with players wearing Nike but he was one of a few that wore Nike initially in the league while many others wore Converse or Adidas.
The eerie irony in the passing of Moses Malone is that two of the previous centers for the Philadelphia 76ers, Daryl Dawkins and Caldwell Jones have all passed away in less than a year. Moses Malone was the bridge for those great Philadelphia 76ers teams of the late 1970s and early 1980s; teams that would make it to the NBA Finals but would continuously fall up short and not make it over the hump,losing to the Portland Trailblazers in 1977 and losing to the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA Finals in two out of three years in the early 80s (1980 & 1982) in years that they were perceived to be the favorites.
Enter Moses Malone.
Coming to The City Of Brotherly Love in September of 1982, Moses (the reigning back to back NBA MVP) was the piece that would FINALLY get the 76ers over the hump from the West Coast wearing the royal purple and gold; the Los Angeles Lakers and their Hall Of Fame Center Kareem Abdul Jabbar. Teaming with Julius “Dr.J” Erving, the 1983 Philadelphia 76ers finished the regular season with an outstanding 65-17 record, finishing first place in the Eastern Conference and cruising through the NBA Playoffs (Malone predicted nothing but sweeps by declaring the team would win “Fo, Fo, Fo”) en route to a playoff record of 12 wins and one loss, sweeping the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA Finals 4-0 and bringing the first NBA Championship back to Philly since the 76ers had won the title in 1967 led by another legendary center, Wilt Chamberlain. The fervor and tenacity with which Malone played embodied Philadelphia. The “Chairman of the Boards” did everything necessary to ensure that the 76ers won the title that season adding a dimension in the pain which had not been consistently present in previous years.
A guaranteed walking double double every night he entered the Arena, Malone was the equalizer, forcing Abdul-Jabbar to have to play harder on both ends of the court, and proving to be unstoppable. “I like guys to push me, I like people to bang. The more they push me, I feel the more stronger I get, the more aggressive I play.” The Lakers brought the best out of Malone and the 76ers and that is why that 1982-1983 team is still celebrated 32 years later. As Moses did in the Bible, Moses Malone led Philadelphia to the promised land of the basketball world, the NBA Championship.
MVPs, All Star selections, Hall Of Fame Inductions and a plethora of other individual honors define Moses Malone the basketball player, but his ability on the court was a true reflection of his biggest attribute to his greatness on the court; his heart.
