Moses Malone

During the 1985-86 season, in a game against Milwaukee, Malone suffered a broken eye orbit that cut his season short 8 games before the postseason. Without Malone, the 76ers did not fare well in the play-offs, losing to the Bucks in the Eastern Conference Semifinals. After the end of the season the 76ers traded Malone to the Washington Bullets.

Malone continued to be among the league's top scorers and rebounders for the next four years, playing for the Washington Bullets and later for the Atlanta Hawks. Even late in his career Malone produced strong numbers. In the 1990-91 season, his 17th year as a professional, Malone averaged 10.6 points and 8.1 rebounds though he was now playing as a back-up for Jon Koncak. Playing for the Milwaukee Bucks in 1991-92 he averaged 15.6 points per game. After playing another season with the Bucks, Malone was signed as a free agent by Philadelphia for one more season primarily to mentor the 7 foot 6 inch rookie Shawn Bradley and finally finished his career as a backup player for San Antonio.

On October 4th, 2001 Malone was inducted in the Basketball Hall of Fame. When asked how he felt he replied, "When I first got the news, I really didn't give it much thought. Now I know it's one of the greatest honors you can get. Now you're at the top, the very top. There's nowhere else you can go in basketball once you get to the Hall of Fame. Everybody now recognizes you as one of the greatest players ever." In October 1996 the league named him one of the NBA's top 50 players of all-time.