Philadelphia 76ers great Moses Malone dies, aged 60
Centre won the NBA title in 1983 and led the league in rebounds per game for five straight seasons
Moses Malone, a three-time NBA MVP and one of basketball’s most ferocious rebounders, died on Sunday. He was 60.
Detective Jeffrey Scott, of the Norfolk, Virginia Police Department, confirmed that Malone died in a Norfolk hotel room. He said there was no indication of foul play. Malone’s body was discovered when he failed to report to a celebrity golf tournament in which he was scheduled to play.
Malone was part of the 76ers’ 1983 NBA championship team, and the club said he will “forever be remembered as a genuine icon and pillar of the most storied era in the history of Philadelphia 76ers basketball”.
[He will] forever be remembered as a genuine icon and pillar of the most storied era in the history of Philadelphia 76ers basketball
A 2.08m centre who made the leap right from high school to the pros, Malone is the NBA’s career leader in offensive rebounds and led the league in rebounds per game for five straight seasons from 1980-85.
Malone was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2001 and attended the induction ceremonies for the year’s class in Springfield, Massachusetts this weekend before returning to his native Virginia.
Drafted by the Utah Stars of the ABA in 1974, Malone went on to play for eight NBA clubs and was the league’s MVP in 1979 and 1982 while playing for the Houston Rockets.
