In League of 7-Footers, Moses Malone, at 6-10, Still Stands Tall

In a year when there are 39 7-footers in the NBA, Moses Malone still stands tall at 6-10.

He is shorter than at least 50 players in the league, but in his 11th NBA season, no one is more dangerous with the ball in his hands near the basket.

His average of 25 points a game for the Washington Bullets is the highest in the NBA among centers, and only the mercurial Michael Jordan is close to him in free throws made and attempted. Fouling Malone is no bargain--he is making 84% of his free throws.

“I’m just a basic ballplayer,” he said. “I work hard and try to contribute to the team. Big men can’t be too flashy. Small forwards and guards handle the ball so much and they’re quicker than us. But the big guys control the whole situation.”

While Malone’s hairline may be receding and his belt size growing, he again will be a starting center in next weekend’s All-Star game despite Philadelphia owner Harold Katz’s claim that Malone was “an old 31.”

Malone is deriving little satisfaction from proving his former boss wrong. For one of the few times in career, he finds himself on a team that doesn’t appear to be good enough to survive past the first round of the playoffs.

The Bullets recently went through a streak of six losses after reaching the .500 mark, a level they have danced around all season.

The inconsistency of the Bullets is frustrating to Malone, who just four years ago was on a Philadelphia team judged to be among the greatest of all time.

“We’ve got to come to every game prepared and get a six- or seven-game streak going,” Malone said. “Whether you play one minute of 48, everybody’s got to work hard.

“We can’t keep getting to .500 and then losing. We’ve got to get over that.”

Malone isn’t sorry his days of feuding with Katz are behind him, but he certainly misses the 76ers’ winning ways.

“We refused to lose two games in a row,” he said. “Here we just seem willing to go out and try to win one. I want to be there (in the playoffs) in June again. I’ve been there, and I know what it’s like.”

So far, the Bullets have not done well with a Twin Towers alignment, a concept so successful at Houston and Boston.

Seven-foor-six Manute Bol, who set a rookie record for blocked shots and threatened the all-time single-season mark last season, rarely sees action at the same time as Malone.

“They have not played well at all when they’ve been in there together,” Bullets Coach Kevin Loughery said. “We always seem to lose ground when they’re in there at the same time. Consequently, the one who loses playing time is Manute.”

Even after watching him play for years, Loughery said he was surprised at Malone’s basketball ability.

“He has much better outside skills than I thought,” Loughery said. “The more minutes he plays, the better he gets. His intensity just wears out the other team.”

Malone’s intensity, always impressive, was raised another notch in Washington’s two meetings with the 76ers this season, both won by the Bullets.

He had 28 points and 21 rebounds in the first game in Philadelphia on Christmas Day, then had 39 points and 17 rebounds in a rematch at Landover, Md., on Jan. 10.

Two nights later, he had a season-high 41 points and 20 rebounds in a victory over Sacramento.

“My game is hard work and pride,” Malone said. “On the all hard-work team, I’d pick myself five times. My main thing is concentration. It’s a thinking game. Be wise. Study them (opponents), what they do best. If I get too Hollywood, I might lose it.”

Washington’s fortunes seem to rise and fall with Malone.

In a five-game stretch early in the season, his lines showed 38 points and 21 rebounds, 31 points and 11 rebounds, 34 points and 13 rebounds, 17 points and 14 rebounds and 32 points and 11 rebounds.

The only game the Bullets lost of those five was the one in which he scored 17.

Malone, in the fifth year of a six-year contract that pays him more than $2 million a year, shrugs off the notion that he’s the highest-salaried person in Washington.

“Not me,” he said. “That’s my wife.”

Some believed his poor relationship with Katz had soured Malone on playing in Philadelphia, but former 76er teammate Maurice Cheeks said Malone could have flourished with the 76ers.

“He didn’t need the change of scenery,” Cheeks said. “He’s such a competitor that he would play anywhere.”