Matt Maloney (born December 6, 1971 in Silver Spring, Maryland) is a retired American professional Basketball player. The youngest of five children, the 6'3" (1.90 m) Guard (basketball) began his basketball career at Vanderbilt University and transferred after his freshman year to the University of Pennsylvania. Hard work rather than raw talent helped Maloney in his basketball career. Never drafted by an NBA team, Maloney spent time in the now defunct CBA before finding playing time with 3 different NBA teams over 6 seasons.
He played with the Houston Rockets from 1996 to 1999, the Chicago Bulls during the 1999-2000 NBA season, and the Atlanta Hawks for the 2000-01 and 2002-03 seasons. Maloney is notable for his rookie season in the NBA when he started at point guard for a Houston Rockets squad with future Basketball Clyde Drexler, Charles Barkley, and Hakeem Olajuwon. The Rockets won 57 games during the 1996-97 season, losing to the Utah Jazz in six games in the Western Conference Finals.
Maloney's father, Jim, who was a longtime assistant coach for John Chaney at Temple University, died only months before Matt began playing for his first NBA team. After finding success in the NBA, two of his siblings gave up their careers to spend several years living with Matt and providing support during his years of stardom.
In his NBA career, Maloney played in 25 playoff games and scored a total of 177 points. He scored a career high 26 points twice during the 1997 playoffs as a member of the Rockets.
External links[]
- Maloney expects to sign with Houston dailypennsylvanian.com - September 5, 1996
- NBA.com player profile