The Philadelphia 76ers unveiled a statue of the late Moses Malone on Friday, hours before they were scheduled to retire Malone’s No. 2 at halftime of their game against the Denver Nuggets.Malone becomes the seventh player featured on the 76ers’ Legends Walk, outside the team’s training facility in Camden, N.J., joining Julius Erving, Wilt Chamberlain, Hal Greer, Billy Cunningham, Mo Cheeks and Bobby Jones. Erving’s sculpture was the sixth to go up last April.Malone’s No. 2 jersey will be raised to the rafters with all of his teammates’ names stitched into it, a request Malone made when initially approached in February 2015 about his number being retired. He also will remain the only Sixers player ever to wear the number, as no player donned No. 2 before Malone.A 12-time NBA All-Star and Hall of Fame member, Malone played for the 76ers from 1982 to 1986, helping the team to its last NBA title and claiming Finals MVP honors in 1983. Three other players from that team — Erving, Cheeks and Jones — already have had their numbers retired.Malone also returned to Philadelphia for his second-to-last NBA season in 1993-94, finishing with averages of 21 points, 12 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game in 357 games with the Sixers.The 6-foot-10 Malone became the first modern-day player to turn pro straight from high school when he signed with the Utah franchise of the ABA in 1974. In a 21-year career, which included two seasons in the ABA, he played with seven NBA teams.He went into the Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility in 2001. The Houston Rockets retired his No. 24 in 1998.Malone died of heart disease in September 2015 at age 60.
