Maurice Cheeks

Background

Cheeks grew up in the Robert Taylor Homes in Chicago and attended DuSable High School, where he only had significant playing time in his senior year. His high school teammate William Dise was heavily recruited, and Dise told schools they must also offer Cheeks a scholarship. West Texas State University head coach Ron Ekker agreed after their high school coach said Cheeks would eventually be the better player, and after watching Cheeks play in a local pickup game. Cheeks was a four-year starter at West Texas, earning All-Missouri Valley Conference honors three straight seasons and being named team MVP three times.

Selected 36th overall in the 1978 NBA draft by the Philadelphia 76ers, Cheeks played 11 seasons with the team. He helped the 76ers reach the NBA Finals three times in four years (1980, 1982, 1983), winning the championship in 1983. Cheeks was named to four straight NBA All-Defensive teams from 1983 to 1986 and earned four All-Star selections. He later played for the San Antonio Spurs, New York Knicks, Atlanta Hawks, and New Jersey Nets before retiring in 1993. Upon retirement, he was fifth in NBA history in total assists and the all-time leader in steals.

After retiring, Cheeks coached in the Continental Basketball Association, then served as an assistant coach for the 76ers from 1994 to 2001. He became head coach of the Portland Trail Blazers in 2001, leading them to two playoff berths in four seasons. In 2005, he was named head coach of the 76ers. During a 2003 Trail Blazers game, Cheeks famously aided 13-year-old Natalie Gilbert in singing the national anthem after she forgot the words, an act later cited by a Harvard Business School professor as an example of leadership.