Moses Malone

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

Untimely death and a big loss for the NBA community...one of my all-time favorites. Why doesn't he get mentioned more often in discussions about greatest center of all time. There was a 6-year stretch where he averaged 25.5 PPG and 15 RPG during the 80s...no player since has averaged that since for even one season! How great was that team that had Malone, Dr. J, Charles Barkley, and often-overlooked great Andrew Toney? Toney, by the way, was the author of my favorite sports quotation of all time...when asked what it was liked to play with Erving and Malone, he replied "Julius tell me what it is, and Moses tell me what it be". I guess he might have been talking about one of this board's favorite topics...mentorship!

Malone was almost indecipherable when talking. My friends and I would watch the post-game shows when the 76ers were on TV, and play a few rounds of "What did Moses just say?". If there are any fans here of the classic Soucheray/Reusse Monday Night Sports Talk radio program from the late 80s, there was a character that would call in occasionally claiming to be Malone...hilarious incomprehensible mumbling!

RIP Moses...you were a great player and a unique character.

[Coolbreeze44]

I was a huge Milwaukee Buck fan back in the early 80's. The Malone led 76ers were the kryptonite for the Bucks during that era. I always felt the Bucks were every bit as good as those 6er teams, but would never seem to get the big market calls that Dr. J, Moses, and Bobby Jones got at crunch time. To me it was the genesis of all the conspiracy talk the league has received over the years. But I digress. Andrew Toney was an assassin, just a great player on a great team. Moses was famous for his fo-fo-fo statement, representative of how many games he thought each playoff series would run during their championship season. His rebound numbers were always padded by how often he would continually tip his own missed shots at the rim. Sometimes he would get 3-4 offensive rebounds on the same play. He was also an extreme sweater. I remember him standing at the free throw line while a continuous stream of sweat dripped off his goatee. He kept the mop-up boys busy all game.

Most of all he will be remembered as a great player and warrior. I also think he was a pretty good dude. Sad to see him taken so soon.