Acquiring Moses Malone
The Philadelphia 76ers were oh so close, so very good but not quite great. It was a team of Julius “Doctor J” Irving, Maurice Cheeks, Andrew Toney, Daryl Dawkins, Bobby Jones and Caldwell Jones. Of that group in the championship series, the 76ers simply did not have an answer for Kareem Abdul Jabar. So in 1982, the Sixers agreed to trade Caldwell Jones and a first round pick of the Cleveland Cavaliers to the Houston Rockers for center Moses Malone.
“I know it’s Doc’s show,” Malone said, “and I’m happy to be part of Doc’s show . . . Doc’ll still be the show, but maybe now it’ll be a better show.”
Owner Harold Katz wasn’t worried about any backlash the contract might have brought.
“I did what I felt I had to do for my team,” Katz said. “I want to go for the whole thing, the championship, and the only thing we lacked was rebounding. Now we’ve got the best rebounder in the game. I can’t wait until the season starts.”
The resulting team dominated the NBA the following year, with the cherry on top ending with a four game sweep of the LA Lakers. Moses Malone proved to be that missing link, and the 76ers of the 1982-1983 series were one of the best teams ever assembled in the NBA.
Next: Fo, fo, fo