Houston Rockets: The 15 greatest centers of all-time

Moses Malone began his professional basketball career as a member of the ABA’s Utah Stars in 1974. He was eventually selected by the Portland Blazers in the 1976 dispersal draft. The Blazers traded Malone to the then Buffalo Braves a couple of months later and then the Braves sent Malone to the Rockets after just six days.

Malone found his niche in Houston, averaging 19.4 points and 15 rebounds per game, which was good enough for him to make the All-Star game in the 1977-78 season. In Malone’s sixth season with Houston, he averaged 31.1 points and 14.7 rebounds per game, but the Rockets traded him to the Philadelphia 76ers for Caldwell Jones and a first-round pick in the offseason.

The very next year, Malone and Julius Erving led the 76ers to the NBA Finals, where they swept Magic Johnson’s Los Angeles Lakers. Malone won the NBA Finals MVP Award in that series.

Malone then played two seasons for the Washington Bullets, three seasons for the Atlanta Hawks and two seasons for the Milwaukees Bucks. He then returned to Philadelphia in the 1993-94 season before retiring with the San Antonio Spurs after the 1994-95 season.

Malone averaged 24 points and 15 rebounds per game in his six seasons with the Rockets and was one of the best centers in the ’80s. He was a 13-time All-Star, three-time MVP, six-time rebounding champion and was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2001.