Maurice Edward Cheeks (born September 8, 1956) is an American professional basketball coach and former player who serves as an assistant coach for the New York Knicks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He has also served as head coach of the Portland Trail Blazers, Philadelphia 76ers, and Detroit Pistons. Cheeks was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a player in 2018. He was the first player with 2,000 steals solely in the NBA.
Cheeks was born in Chicago on September 8, 1956, and grew up in the Robert Taylor Homes. He attended DuSable High School. He only had significant playing time on the basketball team in his senior year. His high school teammate William Dise was heavily recruited by college basketball programs, and Dise told the schools that if they wanted him, they also had to offer Cheeks a scholarship to join him. Ron Ekker, head coach at West Texas State University (now West Texas A&M) only agreed to accept both Dise and Cheeks after their high school coach, Bob Bonner, said Cheeks would eventually be the better player; and then watching Cheeks play in a local gym pickup game.
Cheeks attended West Texas from 1974 to 1978, and was a four-year starter under Ekker. He wanted to leave after his first year, but his mother convinced Cheeks to stay. He was an All-Missouri Valley Conference player for three straight seasons (first team in 1975–1976 and 1977–1978, and second team in 1976–1977). He was selected team Most Valuable Player three times. As a senior, he averaged 16.8 points per game, and shot nearly 57% for his collegiate career.
As of 2024, Cheeks ranks 5th in field goal percentage in WTSU/WTAM history (56.8), 12th in points per game for a career (11.8) and total field goals, and had the fourth most free throws made in a single season (212).
Cheeks was inducted into the West Texas A & M Hall of Champions in 1988. He was inducted into the Missouri Valley Conference Hall of Fame in 2021. He was selected to the Missouri Valley Conference Men's Basketball 50 Greatest Players.
After college, Cheeks was selected as the 36th pick in the second round of the 1978 NBA draft by the Philadelphia 76ers. He played 15 years as a point guard in the NBA, including 11 with the Philadelphia 76ers. As a 76er, he earned four trips to the NBA All-Star Game, and he helped the 76ers to three trips to the NBA Finals in a four-year span in the early 1980s (1980, 1982, and 1983), including an NBA championship in 1983.
While starting at point guard for a Sixers team that at times included stars Julius Erving, Moses Malone, Andrew Toney, and Charles Barkley, Cheeks was well regarded for his team play and defensive skills. He was named to four straight NBA All-Defensive squads from 1983 to 1986, and earned a spot on the second team in 1987. When he retired in 1993, he was fifth in NBA history in total assists, and as of 2024, he is sixteenth on the combined ABA/NBA assist list.
Philadelphia 76ers (1978–1989)
He had his best seasons with the 76ers. At the young age of 22 he gained a notable role on the 76ers, solidifying himself as the starting point guard and earning himself valuable minutes, starting all 82 games and playing nearly 30 minutes per game. The 76ers were also in playoff contention for every year that he was on the team except for the 1987–88 season.
By his fifth year in the league, he was selected to his first All-Star appearance, starting the game, and had averaged 12.5 points, 6.9 assists, and 2.3 steals for the 1982–83 season. The 76ers also had the best season in this 76ers era, having a 65–17 record. This is the second-best season record in the 76ers franchise history, the 1966–1967 team being 68–13; and the second-best record league-wide in the 1980s behind only the 1986 Boston Celtics.
They would go on to win the NBA championship that year, which was Cheeks' first and only championship. He would be an integral part of the 76ers for the rest of his time in Philadelphia, however the 76ers failed to repeat the level of success that they reached in the 1982–83 season. He would be selected to three more All-Star appearances from 1986 to 1988. In the 1986 playoffs he averaged a playoff career high 20.8 points throughout the whole postseason.
In the 1986–87 season he would average a career high 15.6 points. However the 76ers were no longer elite title contenders and lost in the first round in the 1987 playoffs. The following year they missed the playoffs in what was Cheeks' last all-star appearance. Cheeks played one more season for the 76ers; they were back in the playoffs but got swept in the first round by the New York Knicks.
In the 1989 off-season the Philadelphia 76ers traded Maurice Cheeks, Chris Welp, and David Wingate to the San Antonio Spurs for Johnny Dawkins and Jay Vincent. At 33 years old, Cheeks was aging and in the twilight of his career but he still played well for the Spurs and averaged 10.9 points for his time in San Antonio. He played 50 games for the club and was the starting point guard. However he was not able to finish the 1989–90 season for the Spurs as he was traded to the Knicks before the season ended.
On February 21, 1990, Cheeks was traded to the New York Knicks for Rod Strickland. Cheeks played the remainder of the season in New York, averaging 7.9 points in 31 games for the franchise. The Knicks went 45–37 that year and made the 1990 playoffs, however they lost in the second round 1–4 to the Detroit Pistons. The following season, Cheeks played in 76 games, averaging 7.8 points per game and 5.7 assists per game, and the Knicks made the playoffs, but were swept by the Bulls in the first round.
In the 1991 off-season the New York Knicks traded Cheeks to the Atlanta Hawks for Tim McCormick and a 1994 first round draft pick (which later became Charlie Ward). Cheeks' points average dropped drastically to 4.6 and he was no longer a starting calibre player. He became an unrestricted free agent in the 1992 off-season and did not re-sign with the Hawks.
In the second-to-last game of the 1991–92 season (April 15, 1992), while playing for the Hawks against the Knicks, Cheeks picked off four steals to surpass longtime Philadelphia teammate Julius Erving's steals record of 2,272 for combined ABA and NBA steals.
On January 7, 1993, the New Jersey Nets signed Cheeks as a free agent. He averaged a career-low 3.6 points for the season and he only played 35 games for the franchise. The Nets reached the playoffs but lost in the first round 2–3 to the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Cheeks retired from the NBA following the 1992–93 season.