Maurice Cheeks

Maurice Cheeks

Cheeks in 2011
Oklahoma City Thunder
Position Assistant coach
League NBA
Personal information
Born (1956-09-08) September 8, 1956
Chicago, Illinois
Nationality American
Listed height 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Listed weight 180 lb (82 kg)
Career information
High school DuSable (Chicago, Illinois)
College West Texas A&M (1974–1978)
NBA draft 1978 / Round: 2 / Pick: 36th overall
Selected by the Philadelphia 76ers
Playing career 1978–1993
Position Point guard
Number 10, 1
Coaching career 1993–present
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:
1994–2001 Philadelphia 76ers (assistant)
2001–2005 Portland Trail Blazers
2005–2008 Philadelphia 76ers
2009–2013 Oklahoma City Thunder (assistant)
2013–2014 Detroit Pistons
2015–present Oklahoma City Thunder (assistant)
Career highlights and awards
Career NBA statistics
Points 12,195 (11.1 ppg)
Assists 7,392 (6.7 apg)
Steals 2,310 (2.1 spg)
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com

Maurice Edward "Mo" Cheeks (born September 8, 1956) is an American retired professional basketball player and currently an assistant coach for the Oklahoma City Thunder of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was the head coach of the Detroit Pistons from June 10, 2013, to February 9, 2014 and has also served as head coach of the Portland Trail Blazers and Philadelphia 76ers.

Early life

Cheeks was born in Chicago, 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.

Playing career

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 fifth all-time in steals and eleventh 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.[1] He averaged 11.7 points per game for his career and notched over 2 steals per contest.

Coaching career

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.[2]

In 2005, Cheeks was named as head coach of the 76ers. 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.[3]

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.[4] However, the Sixers clinched a playoff berth with a win over the Atlanta Hawks on April 4, 2008.[5] 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.[6]

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.[7] In a 2015 interview with Sports Illustrated, former Sixers forward Matt Barnes referred to Cheeks as "a dick".[8]

On August 14, 2009, he was hired as an assistant coach for the Oklahoma City Thunder.[9]

On June 10, 2013, Cheeks agreed to become the head coach of the Detroit Pistons.[10] On February 9, 2014, the Detroit Pistons relieved Cheeks of his head coaching duties and replaced him with John Loyer on an interim basis for the remainder of the season.[11]

On June 29, 2015, Cheeks returned to the Thunder as an assistant coach.[12]

Head 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
Portland 2001–02 824933.5983rd in Pacific303.000 Lost in First round
Portland 2002–03 825032.6103rd in Pacific734.429 Lost in First round
Portland 2003–04 824141.5003rd in Pacific———— Missed Playoffs
Portland 2004–05 552233.400(fired)———— —
Philadelphia 2005–06 823844.4632nd in Atlantic———— Missed Playoffs
Philadelphia 2006–07 823547.4273rd in Atlantic———— Missed Playoffs
Philadelphia 2007–08 824042.4883rd in Atlantic624.333 Lost in First round
Philadelphia 2008–09 23914.391(fired)———— —
Detroit 2013–14 502129.420(fired)———— —
Career 620305315.492 16511.313

See also

References

External links

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