An estimated 1,200 people gathered in Houston this weekend to mourn the passing of Hall of Famer Moses Malone.
Among the mourners was TNT broadcaster and Malone's former teammate Charles Barkley, who delivered a eulogy for the man he affectionately called "Dad."
"He made you smile. He made you laugh. And he loved everybody," Barkley said of Malone, as transcribed by Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle.
"He helped everybody. From the rookies on, he treated everybody great. He was a wonderful man. It was an honor for me to do the eulogy."
For the first two seasons of Barkley's career, a grizzled Malone took him under his wing while the two played together on a dominant Philadelphia 76ers squad with Julius "Dr. J" Erving.
Barkley shared a touching parable of how Malone set him on the path to superstardom with his leadership and guidance.
"When I got to the Philadelphia 76ers in 1984, we had a bunch of tremendous older brothers on the team," Barkley said. "I looked at those guys as older brothers. But there was one guy - and to this day, I never understood why - who took me under his wing. And that was Moses. He treated me like a son.
"I said 'Mo, I'm really struggling. What can I do?' I said, 'Give me some advice.' He says to me, 'Well little fella, you're fat and you're lazy.'"
Barkley took Malone's words to heart. He shed 20 pounds over the course of his rookie season and by 1987, Barkley made the first of 11 straight All-Star appearances.
"Sir Charles" also touched on his feeling of loss and the quality of Malone's character.
"I feel great sadness I'm not going to say, 'Dad,' 'Big Mo' every time I see him. That just hurts me. I don't think I ever heard a person say a bad word about Moses Malone in my travels. I'm blessed to have connected with Moses. Anybody who connected him, you're a much better person."
Watch the video of Barkley's eulogy here.
Malone passed away at the age of 60 on Monday due to complications with hypertensive and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. The 12-time All-Star captured three MVP trophies and ranked fifth in rebounding (16,212) and scoring (27,409).
- With h/t to Eye on Basketball
