Malone, a three-time NBA MVP and
one of basketball's most ferocious rebounders, died Sunday in Norfolk,
Virginia, where he was scheduled to appear at a charity golf event. He
was 60.
Malone had just
attended this weekend's enshrinement ceremonies at the Naismith Memorial
Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts. Nicknamed the
''Chairman of the Boards,'' Malone was inducted himself in 2001 and
remains in the NBA's top 10 in career scoring and rebounding.
''With
three MVPs and an NBA championship, he was among the most dominant
centers ever to play the game and one of the best players in the history
of the NBA and the ABA,'' NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said.
Norfolk police said Malone was
found unresponsive and not breathing in his room by hotel staff shortly
before 8 a.m. Norfolk Fire Rescue responded and pronounced Malone dead
at the scene. A cause of death has not been determined.
A
6-foot-10 center who was the first to make the leap right from high
school to the pros, Malone is the NBA's career leader in offensive
rebounds and led the league in rebounds per game for five straight
seasons from 1980-85.
Malone
led the 76ers to the 1983 NBA championship, and the club said he will
''forever be remembered as a genuine icon and pillar of the most storied
era in the history of Philadelphia 76ers basketball.''
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