Very rarely in sports do the right player and the right team find each other at the right time. Eagles fans can think of Terrell Owens finding his way to the Eagles in 2004 or the Phillies trading for Cliff Lee in 2009, but neither of those had the endings they were supposed to have. The perfect story is possible though and that’s exactly what happened with the Sixers and Moses Malone for the 1982-83 season.
All the big trades, signings, and other events in the long histories of the Eagles, Sixers, Phillies, and Flyers
The Calendar
Let’s set the scene. The 1982 Sixers went to the NBA Finals and lost to the Lakers in 6 games. In that series, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar averaged 18 points, 8 rebounds, and 3 blocks per game while thoroughly outplaying the Sixers center tandem of Darryl Dawkins and Caldwell Jones. Kareem was 33 at this point, but still a steady presence that needed to be handled. Meanwhile the Sixers had Julius Erving and Bobby Jones in their early 30s with Maurice Cheeks and Andrew Toney in their primes. Something needed to be done.
Meanwhile, over in Houston, 26-year-old Moses Malone just finished his 2nd MVP season averaging 31 and 15 for a Rockets team that exited in the first round after having lost to the Celtics in the Finals the previous season. Moses was also about to be a restricted free agent. The fit was perfect, but that word “restricted” is the big problem here. Houston could match any offer signed by the big man.
On September 2, 1982, the Sixers made their move and signed Moses to a 6/$13.2m offer sheet. The Rockets matched. However, the franchise had just been sold to new owners and they felt that $2m+ per season for one player was a little too rich for their blood. On September 15th, they agreed to send Malone to the Sixers for Caldwell Jones and a 1983 first round pick. This would not be the Sixers first round pick destined to be at the end of the round, but rather a Cleveland Cavaliers pick that the Sixers had received back in 1977 for a guy named Terry Furlow. The Cavs were bad, so this was juicy asset.
The 1982-83 Sixers ran roughshod through the league winning their first 6 games and starting 13-2. A January 21st win over Seattle put the team at 34-5! Boston and LA were a fantastic 30-9 at this point, but Philly was 5-1 against them so far on the year. Moses was as advertised averaging 24 and 16.
By March 1st, the team was 50-7 a full 8 games clear of Boston for the best record in the NBA. The single season wins record of the 1971-72 Wilt Chamberlain Lakers was legitimately on the table at 69-13. They would need to go a very doable 19-6 to tie. Unfortunately, they would lose the next two games and stumble in some winnable games down the stretch to finish at a still great 65-17, good enough for the #1 seed in the East by 9 games over the Celtics and 7 games clear of the Lakers for the best record in basketball. Houston finished with the worst record and the #1 pick in the draft. The Cavs ended up with the 3rd worst record, meaning the Rockets were set to pick #1 and #3 overall. Moses Malone, however, was the MVP of the league for the second straight year.1
“Fo, Fo, Fo.” That is the famous prediction given by Moses before the playoffs began. He said the Sixers were going to sweep their way to a championship. It almost happened too. Despite every game being tight, the Knicks went out in 4 straight to start the run. The Bucks then went out in 5 in the Eastern Conference Finals. This set up the Finals rematch with the Lakers.
This time, Kareem and Showtime had nothing2 for the loaded Sixers as Moses dominated averaging 26 and 18 for the series. He was named MVP of the Finals and closed out a damn near perfect season.
Unfortunately, this would be the high mark for Moses in Philadelphia. He was still great, but the team exited in the first round the following year and couldn’t get back to the Finals during the final 3 years of his time with the Sixers. It wouldn’t be until 2001 that they would return and still have not brought home a title since.
Malone’s time in Philadelphia would end on one of the worst transactional days in Philadelphia history. On June 16th, 1986 the Sixers would send Moses, Terry Catledge, and two firsts to Washington for Jeff Ruland and Cliff Robinson the same day they would send the #1 pick in the draft to Cleveland for Roy Hinson. Ruland was infamously hurt and would never do anything productive for the Sixers.
Still, for that one amazing season and that one championship, it was all worth it. Terrell Owens and Cliff Lee never had their perfect endings for the Eagles and Phillies, but Moses Malone and the Sixers did.
Photo: Legends profile: Moses Malone | NBA.com
- No one in any sport had ever been named MVP in back-to-back years with different teams before ↩︎
- He still had 23.5 and 7.5, but damn Moses just swallowed every rebound. ↩︎
Leave a Reply