MOSES MALONE FOUNDATION 
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His Roots

Malone was an only child and was raised primarily by his mother, Mary Hudgins Malone, a nurses' aide and meat-packer. Malone and his mother moved to Petersburg, Virginia, after her separation from his father. Malone embraced the game of basketball early and practiced incessantly. By age twelve he was already six feet, three inches tall, and a local youth league required that he play guard and stay out of the key area. That injunction, designed to keep taller players from dominating the area around the basket, only improved his dribbling and shooting. A personal prediction placed in the family Bible forecast that Malone would be the best player on the local high school team; a second, placed slightly later, predicted that he would go immediately into professional leagues. Malone's basketball statistics at Petersburg High School, from which he graduated in 1974, were 31 points, an astounding 26 rebounds, and 10 blocked shots per game.

During his senior season in 1974, Malone signed to the University of Maryland after high school but was then drafted by the Utah Stars of the American Basketball Association before starting college. Former UMD head basketball coach Charles “Lefty” Dreisell said Malone was one of the most humble people he had ever met.  “He was the greatest athlete this state has produced,” he said.  Dreisell added that players like Kobe Bryant and LeBron James would not have been able to go straight to the NBA from high school if it wasn’t for Malone.  “He opened the door for all of them,” Dreisell said.

Malone went on to have a promising 21-year basketball career. While in the ABA, Malone played for the Utah Stars and the Spirits of St. Louis. Transitioning to the NBA in 1976, he played for the Buffalo Braves, Philadelphia 76ers, Houston Rockets, Washington Bullets, Atlanta Hawks, Milwaukee Bucks and the San Antonio Spurs. As a two-time member of the 76ers roster, Malone won the 1983 NBA championship. He retired in 1995 and had quite the career to look back on as a three-time NBA Most Valuable Player. He was named one of the NBA’s 50 greatest players in 1997, was inducted into the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame in 1999, was inducted in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2001 and was inducted in the Petersburg Athletic Hall of Fame in June 2015. According to ESPN, Malone was also one of only four players in the NBA to earn more than 25,000 points and 15,000 rebounds in his 20-season career.