Our next player shares something in common with both Julius Erving and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. By the time the Rewritten Rings timeline began in 1983-84, most of Moses Malone's career had already been written.
Malone began his professional career in the ABA in 1974, before making the jump to the NBA two years later. He was originally drafted by the Portland Trail Blazers, but never actually played a game for them.
Instead, he was immediately traded to the Buffalo Braves, the franchise that would eventually become the Los Angeles Clippers. Malone played just two games in Buffalo before being traded again, this time to the Houston Rockets.
It was in Houston where Malone became a superstar. He spent six seasons with the Rockets, winning two MVP awards in 1979 and 1982 and leading the franchise to the 1981 NBA Finals. Following his second MVP season, Malone was traded to the Philadelphia 76ers, where he joined forces with Julius Erving.
The pairing immediately produced results. Malone won another MVP in his first season in Philadelphia, and the Sixers went on to win the NBA championship, defeating Magic Johnson and the Los Angeles Lakers in the Finals.
When our simulation begins the following season, Malone was already a three-time MVP and NBA champion, and one of the most dominant big men in basketball history.
Like Erving and Kareem, he had already accomplished enough to secure his Hall of Fame legacy. But there was still plenty of basketball left to play, and the next chapter of his career would look very different.
The first two seasons of the Rewritten Rings timeline stayed relatively close to reality. The Sixers were eliminated in the first round in 1984, before returning to the Eastern Conference Finals in 1985 and losing to Larry Bird and the Boston Celtics.
The first major change came in 1986, although it was a subtle one. In reality, Philadelphia lost in the Eastern Conference Semifinals to Terry Cummings and the Milwaukee Bucks.
In our universe, Cummings never makes his way to Milwaukee, but the result is still another postseason disappointment for Malone and the Sixers. Philadelphia once again reached the Conference Finals, only to fall to Boston again.
Then came 1987, and that is where Moses Malone's story truly diverged from reality.
In real life, Malone was traded to the Washington Bullets and would never again reach the same heights in the postseason. In the Rewritten Rings universe, that trade never happens. Malone remains in Philadelphia, and the Sixers finish the regular season as the top team in the Eastern Conference.
With Dr. J entering his final season and a young Charles Barkley only in his third year, Philadelphia had one last chance to see what this trio could accomplish together. The answer was historic.
The Sixers reached the NBA Finals, where they faced Mark Aguirre and the Dallas Mavericks. Dallas appeared to have the championship under control after taking a 3-1 series lead, but Philadelphia refused to go away.
Malone, Erving, and Barkley helped lead the comeback, making the Sixers the first team in NBA history to overcome a 3-1 deficit in the Finals and capture the championship.
For Malone, it meant another championship and another defining moment in Philadelphia.
The following season, the Sixers continued their remarkable run, reaching the Eastern Conference Finals for the fourth consecutive year. This time, they faced a young and hungry Washington Bullets team led by John Stockton and Clyde Drexler.
The series went all the way to seven games, but Philadelphia's run ended on its home floor as the Bullets stole Game 7 on the road and advanced to the Finals.
Philadelphia remained one of the East's best teams in 1989, finishing at the top of the conference once again behind its dominant frontcourt of Malone and Barkley.
But another heartbreaking playoff exit followed. This time, the Sixers fell in the Eastern Conference Semifinals to Brad Daugherty and the New York Knicks, losing another decisive Game 7 at home.
As Malone began to age, Philadelphia slowly slipped down the standings. The Sixers remained competitive and continued making the playoffs, but over the next three seasons they entered the postseason as the fifth, sixth, and eighth seed.
The 1992 team, however, proved that there was still some magic left.
Alex English was traded to Philadelphia leaving Denver, where he had failed to find the same level of success he experienced in real life. Fat Lever never joined English in Denver, thus the team wasn't as competitive.
Even as an aging veteran, English still had moments where he could change a game, and alongside Malone, he helped Philadelphia make NBA history.
As the eighth seed, the Sixers faced the top-seeded Boston Celtics and pulled off one of the biggest upsets the league had ever seen. Philadelphia became the first eighth seed in NBA history to defeat a number one seed, adding another remarkable chapter to Malone's already extraordinary career.
The following season marked the first time the Sixers missed the playoffs during the Rewritten Rings timeline. Philadelphia returned in 1994 as the eighth seed, but by then Malone's role had changed.
He was no longer the team's starting center, instead becoming a veteran presence as the Sixers faced the top-seeded Washington Bullets. Philadelphia pushed Washington to five games, but the run ultimately ended in the decisive fifth game.
Malone returned for one final season in 1995, but the aging Sixers struggled and finished 10th in the Eastern Conference despite adding Dominique Wilkins. After more than two decades of professional basketball, Moses finally called it a career.
He finished his Rewritten Rings career as an 11-time All-Star, two fewer selections than he earned in real life, but with an extra championship on his resume.
His two titles with Philadelphia gave him one more championship than he won in reality, while his three MVP awards remained a testament to the dominance he displayed throughout his career.
Perhaps the most fascinating part of Moses Malone's Rewritten Rings legacy is what never happened. The Portland Trail Blazers drafted him but immediately moved him. The Buffalo Braves acquired him but traded him after just two games. And in reality, the Rockets eventually moved him to Philadelphia, where he became a champion before being traded away from the Sixers again.
In our universe, Philadelphia never let him go.
That single change transformed the final chapter of Moses Malone's career. Instead of finishing his career in Washington and bouncing around the league, Malone spent the majority of his prime and his entire twilight years in Philadelphia.
He became the veteran anchor of a team that included Julius Erving and Charles Barkley, won another championship, reached four straight Conference Finals, and helped create some of the most unlikely playoff moments in NBA history.
Moses Malone's career may have started with teams passing him around, but in the Rewritten Rings universe, he finally found a place that never let him leave.
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