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Maurice Cheeks

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Maurice Cheeks
Philadelphia 76ers
PositionPoint Guard
LeagueNBA
Personal information
Born (1956-09-08) September 8, 1956 (age 68)
Chicago, Illinois Illinois
NationalityUSA
Listed height6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Listed weight180 lb (82 kg)
Career information
CollegeWest Texas State University
NBA draft1978: 36th overall
Selected by the Philadelphia 76ers
Playing career1978–1993
Stats Edit this at Wikidata at NBA.com
Stats Edit this at Wikidata at Basketball-Reference.com

Maurice "Mo" Edward Cheeks (born September 8 1956, in Chicago, Illinois) is an American former professional basketball player. He is the 21st current head coach of the Philadelphia 76ers of the National Basketball Association, having been hired on May 23, 2005. He was head coach of the Portland Trail Blazers from the start of the 2001-02 season until March 2, 2005, when he was fired from the position.

Biography

Cheeks attended West Texas State University from 1975 to 1978. After college, he 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 (11 with the 76ers), earning four trips to the All-Star Game. 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.

In NBA history he ranks third all-time in steals and eighth all-time in assists.

On April 25, 2003, during a playoff game between the Trail Blazers and the Dallas Mavericks, Cheeks aided Natalie Gilbert in singing the National anthem. After Gilbert forgot the words at "At the twilight's last gleaming", Cheeks rushed over to help her. Cheeks received a standing ovation after the song was over. Portland would go on to lose to the Mavericks that night.

There is a photo of Cheeks on the last page of the NBA Live 2004 instruction manual for Hardwood Classics jerseys. His jersey is also in the EA Sports Hall Of Fame feature.

Matt Barnes described Coach Cheeks as "the biggest a------ in the world. He talked to me like I wasn't a man. Other players saw it and would tell me, 'Don't let him talk to you like that.'"[1]


Preceded by Portland Trail Blazers Head Coach
2001–2005 		Succeeded by
Kevin Pritchard (interim)
Preceded by Philadelphia 76ers Head Coach
2005– 		Succeeded by
N/A

Template:1950s-US-hoops-bio-stub

  1. ^ http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/writers/chris_mannix/05/10/barnes.warriors/
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