Moses Malone: The Life of a Basketball Prophet

Moses Malone overcame abject poverty in segregated Petersburg, Virginia, to become the first modern-day basketball player to jump directly from high school to the pros, paving a path for future stars such as Kobe Bryant, Kevin Garnett, and LeBron James to follow. Moses Malone: The Life of a Basketball Prophet tells the story of Malone’s ascent in the early 1970s to becoming the premier player in the world for a five-year period.

The young Malone prophesied his improbable rise and succeeded where others later failed because of his strength of character and unparalleled work ethic. Malone dominated his years in the NBA with a relentless determination that made him the greatest offensive rebounder in basketball history--a record he holds to this day. From 1979 to 1983 he won three of the NBA’s Most Valuable Player awards and with Julius Erving helped to deliver the Philadelphia 76ers to the NBA championship in 1983. He remains one of just nine players to win the NBA MVP award three or more times.

In many ways Malone was an anti-superstar. He lacked a signature move, displayed almost no ego, and shunned the spotlight to the detriment of his commercial appeal. Shy by nature and self-conscious about a speech impediment, Moses kept his distance from the media, some of whom mistook his reticence for stupidity. A man of few words, he possessed a magnetism rooted in humility, authenticity, and passion.

Moses was a giver, equally generous in assisting a friend as he was mentoring younger players, including Charles Barkley and Hakeem Olajuwon. While his contemporaries preened for the cameras, Moses remained the ＂lunch pail superstar,＂ a quiet and humble teammate who expressed himself through his tireless effort on the court and compassion off it.

Paul Knepper is a freelance writer who covered the NBA as a featured columnist for the website Bleacher Report for two years. He is the author of The Knicks of the Nineties: Ewing, Oakley, Starks, and the Brawlers That Almost Won It All.