The first player to enter Pro Basketball straight out of high school, Moses Malone was one of the great proto-typical centers in the NBA. Having signed a letter of intent to attend the University of Maryland in 1974, he was drafted by the ABA's Utah Stars, who he signed a $1 million contract with. The Stars folded the following year and Malone signed with the exciting Spirits Of St. Louis, where he played for one season as well. At that point the ABA-NBA merger happened and Malone was placed in the dispersal draft despite his NBA rights being owned by the New Orleans Jazz. He was selected by the Portland Trailblazers and had an impressive pre-season but he was traded to the Buffalo Braves prior to the first game of the 1976-1977 season. After two games with Buffalo, he was traded again, this time to the Houston Rockets where he would spend the next five seasons.
His first two MVP awards were with the Rockets in 1978-79 and 1981-1982 but it wasn't until he was traded to the Philadephia 76ers for the 1982-83 season where he was MVP of the League and of the finals where he won his first and only championship. RetroCards honors the recently deceased Moses Malone with three cards for the 1976-77 season: The Spirits of St. Louis, who he played for the prior season, the Buffalo Braves and the Houston Rockets.
1976-77 Card, though he never played a regular season game for Portland.
