On This Date in Sports August 29, 1974: Moses Bonus Baby
In collaboration with the Sportsecyclopedia.com
Moses Malone stuns the basketball world by signing a five-year contract worth $1 million to play for the Utah Stars in the ABA. The Stars selected Malone in the third round of the ABA draft out of Petersburg High School in Virginia. Moses Malone had committed to Maryland but chose to turn professional, becoming the first player to go from High School to the pros in professional basketball.
Moses Malone was born in Petersburg, Virginia, on March 23, 1955. Growing in abject poverty, Malone’s mother, who dropped out of school in the fifth grade, made just $100 a week as a grocery checker. Living in a house where the plumbing hardly worked, Malone grew into the top college recruit. The University of Maryland won the battle and expected the 19-year-old to enroll as a freshman.
The ABA was dire straits in 1974, the NBA was viewed as the bigger league and was able to land the more prominent college stars. At the time, players had to finish college to be eligible for the NBA Draft. The ABA would often try to undercut this, drafting underclassmen and offering big contracts. The Stars, after losing the ABA Finals to the New York Nets, rolled the dice, drafting Moses Malone out of high school with a pick in the third round of the ABA Draft. Knowing of Malone’s potential offered a five-year deal worth $1 million, which was accepted.
Most people thought that Moses Malone was making a mistake, becoming the first player to leap from high school to professional basketball, as the ABA was clearly closing to folding. However, he was able to help his mother find a better home, as the one that they lived in was condemned. Undersized for a center, as he began his career, Malone played forward for the Utah Stars. Nicknamed “Mumbles” by the local press for his trouble speaking, Malone enrolled in public speaking classes to help him adjust to life in the ABA.
Moses Malone had a solid rookie season with the Utah Stars, playing in the ABA All-Star Game as he averaged 18.8 points 14.6 rebounds per game. Malone would be named a first-team All-Rookie in the ABA as he proved he belonged in the ABA. Moses Malone’s second season in the ABA would be a struggle as he missed half the season with an injury, while the Utah Stars folded. Malone was sold to the Spirits of St. Louis, a team that was not a part of the coming NBA merger.
After the ABA folded, the players from the Spirits of St. Louis were placed in a dispersal draft. Before playing his third game in the NBA, Moses Malone was traded twice. Drafted by the Portland Trail Blazers, Moses Malone played his first two games with the Buffalo Braves before moving on to the Houston Rockets.
Within a few years, Malone was the top rebounder in the NBA and one of the league’s top centers. He would help take the Rockets to the NBA Finals in 1981. Winning an MVP in Houston in 1979 and 1982, Malone repeated in 1983 with the Philadelphia 76ers, where he won an NBA Championship. Moses Malone would play 21 years between the ABA and NBA and was named one of the league’s 50 best players in 1996 as he was first-ballot Hall of Famer.