Maurice Cheeks

Maurice Cheeks

Cheeks (right) with Thunder head coach Scott Brooks
No. 10, 1
Point guard
Personal information
Date of birth	September 8, 1956 (1956-09-08)
Place of birth	Chicago, Illinois
Nationality	American
High school	DuSable (Chicago, Illinois)
Listed height	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Listed weight	180 lb (82 kg)
Career information
College	West Texas A&M (1974–1977)
NBA Draft	1978 / Round: 2 / Pick: 36th overall
Selected by the Philadelphia 76ers
Pro career	1978–1993
Career history
As player:
1978–1989	Philadelphia 76ers
1989–1990	San Antonio Spurs
1990–1991	New York Knicks
1991–1992	Atlanta Hawks
1993	New Jersey Nets
As coach:
2001–2005	Portland Trail Blazers
2005–2008	Philadelphia 76ers
Career highlights and awards
NBA Champion (1983) 4× NBA All-Star (1983, 1986–1988) 4× NBA All-Defensive First Team (1983–1986) NBA All-Defensive Second Team (1987) #10 retired by the Philadelphia 76ers
Career NBA statistics
Points	12,195 (11.1 ppg)
Assists	7,392 (6.7 apg)
Steals	2,310 (2.1 spg)
Stats at NBA.com
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com

Maurice Edward "Mo" Cheeks (born September 8, 1956) is an American retired professional basketball player and assistant coach for the Oklahoma City Thunder. He was the head coach of the Philadelphia 76ers of the National Basketball Association from May 23, 2005 to December 13, 2008. Prior to that, he was head coach of the Portland Trail Blazers from the start of the 2001–02 season until March 2, 2005.

Biography

Cheeks was born in Chicago, grew up in the Robert Taylor Homes, and attended DuSable High School. He attended West Texas State University from 1974 to 1978. Cheeks was an all-Missouri Valley Conference player for three straight seasons, as he averaged 16.8 points per game and shot nearly 57% for his collegiate career. He is currently the third leading scorer in WTSU/WTAM history.

After college, Cheeks was selected as the 36th pick in the second round of the 1978 NBA Draft by the Philadelphia 76ers. Cheeks played 15 years as a point guard in the NBA, including 11 with the Philadelphia 76ers, He earned four trips to the NBA All-Star Game, and he helped the 76ers earn three trips to the NBA Finals in a four-year span in the early 1980s (1980, 1982, and 1983), including one NBA championship in 1983. While starting at point guard for a Sixers team that at times included stars such as Julius Erving, Moses Malone, Andrew Toney, and Charles Barkley, Cheeks was well regarded for his unselfish team play and excellent defensive skills. As a result, he was named to four straight NBA All-Defensive squads from 1983 to 1986, and then earned a spot on the second team in 1987.

In NBA history, Cheeks ranks third all-time in steals and eighth all-time in assists. At the time of his retirement from the NBA in 1993, Cheeks was the NBA all-time leader in steals and ranked fifth all-time in assists. He averaged 11.7 points per game for his career and notched over 2 steals per contest.

After retirement, Cheeks spent one year coaching in the Continental Basketball Association, before becoming the 76ers assistant head coach in 1994. He coached under head coaches John Lucas (1994-96), Johnny Davis (1996-97), and Larry Brown, and he was an instrumental part of the Philadelphia team that reached the 2001 NBA Finals. In 2001, he was hired as Portland Trail Blazers head coach. He led the team to two playoff berths in four years as coach, but could not get past the first round. He was fired after a poor start to the 2004–05 campaign.

On April 25, 2003, during a game between the Trail Blazers and the Dallas Mavericks, Cheeks aided 13-year-old Natalie Gilbert in singing the American national anthem. After Gilbert forgot the words at "At the twilight's last gleaming", Cheeks rushed over to help her and they finished it together, as the entire Rose Garden Arena crowd sang with them. Cheeks and Gilbert received a standing ovation after the song was over.

In 2005, Cheeks was named as head coach of the 76ers. Maurice Cheeks was popular among Sixers fans because of his eleven year tenure with the Sixers, during which he helped guide the Sixers to the 1983 NBA championship. The move was also praised by Sixers star Allen Iverson, who worked with Cheeks during his run as Sixers' Assistant Head Coach.

However, he missed the playoffs in each of his first two seasons. Frustrations began to grow with Sixers veterans Allen Iverson and Chris Webber, who were not happy with the team's direction. During the 2006-07 season, Iverson would be traded to the Nuggets and Webber would be released, leaving Cheeks with one of the youngest teams in the NBA. On February 20, 2007, the 76ers extended Cheeks' contract one year despite his losing record as coach.

At the beginning of the 2007–08 season, expectations were low and the 76ers were picked to finish last in the Conference by many prognosticators. However, the Sixers clinched a playoff berth with a win over the Atlanta Hawks on April 4, 2008. It was their first postseason appearance since 2005, as well as the first in the post-Iverson era. However, they were eliminated by the Detroit Pistons, 4–2. Even with this elimination, many fans considered this to be a successful season, considering that the Sixers were 12 games under .500 in early February and went on to have a 21-7 run that led them to the playoffs.

The Sixers started out the 2008-09 NBA season 9-14, despite their signing of Elton Brand and re-signing of Andre Iguodala during the offseason. Due to their slow start, the 76ers fired Cheeks on December 13, 2008.

On August 14, 2009, he was made an assistant coach for the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Coaching record

Legend
Regular season	G	Games coached	W	Games won	L	Games lost	W–L %	Win-loss  %
Post season	PG	Playoff Games	PW	Playoff Wins	PL	Playoff Losses	PW–L %	Playoff Win-loss  %

Team	Year	G	W	L	W–L%	Finish	PG	PW	PL	PW–L%	Result
POR	2001–02	82	49	33	.598	3rd in Pacific	3	0	3	.000	Lost in First Round
POR	2002–03	82	50	32	.610	3rd in Pacific	7	3	4	.429	Lost in First Round
POR	2003–04	82	41	41	.500	3rd in Pacific	—	—	—	—	Missed Playoffs
POR	2004–05	55	22	33	.400	(fired)	—	—	—	—	—
PHI	2005–06	82	38	44	.463	2nd in Atlantic	—	—	—	—	Missed Playoffs
PHI	2006–07	82	35	47	.427	3rd in Atlantic	—	—	—	—	Missed Playoffs
PHI	2007–08	82	40	42	.488	3rd in Atlantic	6	2	4	.333	Lost in First Round
PHI	2008–09	23	9	14	.391	(fired)	—	—	—	—	—
Career		570	284	286	.498		16	5	11	.313

See also

• List of National Basketball Association career assists leaders
• List of National Basketball Association career steals leaders
• List of National Basketball Association career playoff assists leaders
• List of National Basketball Association career playoff steals leaders
• List of National Basketball Association players with most assists in a game
• List of National Basketball Association players with most steals in a game

External links

• Maurice Cheeks' career statistics
• Maurice Cheeks: NBA Historical Profile
• Video of Maurice Cheeks helping Natalie Gilbert sing the national anthem on April 25, 2003
• Maurice Cheeks InsideHoops.com profile

Sporting positions
Preceded by Mike Dunleavy	Portland Trail Blazers head coach 2001–2005	Succeeded by Kevin Pritchard (interim)
Preceded by Jim O'Brien	Philadelphia 76ers head coach 2005–2008	Succeeded by Tony DiLeo (interim)