Happy 69th Birthday, Maurice Cheeks
- Jake C
- Sep 8
- 7 min read
Cover photo: Maurice Cheeks as a Philadelphia 76er. Photo credit: Focus On Sport, Getty Images.
One of the best defensive point guards in NBA history celebrates a birthday on September 8 as Hall of Fame point guard Maurice Cheeks turns 69.
Cheeks was born in Chicago, Illinois and grew up in the Robert Taylor Homes housing projects, which were demolished in 2007. He attended DuSable High School on the city’s south side. At DuSable, Cheeks led the Panthers in assists in each of his four seasons there.
For college, Cheeks attended West Texas State (now West Texas A&M) in Canyon, Texas. As a Buffalo, Cheeks was 3-time Missouri Valley Conference. He averaged 13.9 points and 7.1 assists as a junior and 16.8 points, 5.7 assists, and 5.6 rebounds as a senior. In 106 college games, he averaged 11.6 points.
In the 1978 Draft, Cheeks was drafted 36th overall by the Philadelphia 76ers, a draft where Cheeks would eventually emerge as one of five all-stars (Larry Bird, Michael Ray Richardson, Reggie Theus, Mike Mitchell the others).
The 1977-78 Sixers had won 55 games and lost to the Washington Bullets in six games in the Eastern Conference Finals. The season prior, the team won 50 games and made the NBA Finals. The squad of ‘78-‘79 in Cheeks’ rookie season maintained Julius Erving, Darryl Dawkins, Doug Collins, Henry Bibby, and Joe Bryant. Bobby Jones was a new acquisition. The team went 47-35, defeated the New Jersey Nets 2-0 in the first round and lost in seven games to the San Antonio Spurs in the Conference Semifinals. In Game 4 of the Spurs’ series, Cheeks poured in 33 points, dished out 9 assists, grabbed 6 rebounds and had 6 thefts. He also scored 24 points in Game 2 of the series and in Game 5 registered 18 points, 12 assists, 8 rebounds, and 4 steals. He posted 20 points and 13 assists in Game 7.
Cheeks started all 82 games and played an average of 29.4 minutes per night in ‘78-’79. He averaged 8.4 points, 5.3 assists, and 2.1 steals. For the first ten seasons of his career, Cheeks averaged at least two steals per game.
In ‘79-‘80, Cheeks’ minutes per game increased to 33.2, and his points, assists, and steals numbers jumped to 11.4 points (54.0% on 8.4 shots per game), 7.0 assists, and 2.3 steals. In Game 1 of the ‘80 Conference Semifinals against the Atlanta Hawks, Cheeks posted 21 points, 9 assists, and 4 steals, and scored 19 points with 5 assists in Game 4. The Sixers lost to the Los Angeles Lakers in six games in the ‘80 Finals. Cheeks in the series averaged 14.7 points, 6.7 assists, and 2.5 steals. In Game 2 of the Finals he posted 23 points, 10 assists, and 6 steals, and in games three and four scored 18 points apiece.
The guard’s numbers dipped some in ‘80-‘81 when he averaged 9.4 points and 6.9 rebounds per game. In Game 5 of the Sixers’ 1981 second round series against the Milwaukee Bucks, Cheeks posted 20 points and 10 assists. It was one of his 21 career playoff double-doubles.
In ‘81-‘82, Cheeks registered 11.2 points, 8.4 assists, and 2.6 steals (career-high). The Sixers defeated the Bucks in six games in the Conference Semifinals, and Cheeks in Game 6 scored 26 points with 6 assists. In the Conference Finals against the Celtics, he recorded three double-doubles. The 6 foot, 1 inch, 180-pound guard registered 18 points and 14 assists in Game 2 of the series, 18 points and 10 assists in Game 3, and 19 points and 11 assists in Game 7.
From the 1982-83 season through to 1987-88, Cheeks made his four all-star appearances and the All-Defensive team five times (four first team).
Maurice Cheeks’ Stats - 1982-83 to 1987-88
1982-83: 12.5 points (54.2% FG, 9.4 FGA), 6.9 assists, 2.3 steals, 31.2 minutes, 79 games, All-Star, 1st team All-Defense, 3rd in DPOY voting
The ‘82-’83 Sixers won 65 games and avenged their 1980 Finals’ loss by sweeping the Lakers in four games in ‘83. Cheeks averaged 15.3 points, 6.3 assists, and 2.8 steals in the four game Finals. In games two and three in the first round against the Knicks, he posted 26 points, 6 assists, 6 rebounds, and 4 steals and 24 points and 7 assists. Cheeks in Game 1 of the Conference Finals also scored 26 points, with 7 assists, 6 rebounds, and 4 steals.
1983-84: 12.7 points (55.0% FG, 9.4 FGA), 6.4 assists, 2.3 steals, 33.3 minutes, 75 games, 1st team All-Defense, 4th in DPOY voting
The ‘83-’84 Sixers won 52 games and lost in five games to the New Jersey Nets in the first round. Cheeks averaged 16.6 points and 2.6 steals in the series against his draftmate and fellow point guard Richardson.
1984-85: 13.1 points (57.0% FG, 9.5 FGA), 6.4 assists, 2.2 steals, 33.5 minutes, 78 games, 1st team All-Defense, 5th in DPOY voting
The ‘84-’85 Sixers went 58-24 and lost the Eastern Conference Finals in five games to the Boston Celtics. Cheeks led the Sixers in scoring in the series with 19.4 points per game (58.2% shooting). In Game 5 of the series, he posted 26 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists, and 2 steals.
1985-86: 15.4 points (53.7% FG, 11.1 FGA), 9.2 assists, 2.5 steals, 39.9 minutes (career-high,
led NBA), 82 games, All-Star, 1st team All-Defense
The ‘85-’86 Sixers, now playing under Matt Guokas after seven full seasons head coached by Billy Cunningham, won 54 games and lost in seven games in the Eastern Conference Semifinals to the Milwaukee Bucks. While Charles Barkley led the Sixers in scoring with 27.6 points and 14.7 rebounds, Cheeks also averaged 20+ in the series, registering 20.7 points (52.5% shooting), 8.3 assists, and 4.6 rebounds per game. In the 126-108 Sixer win in Game 6, Cheeks tallied a triple-double of 16 points, 13 assists, and 10 rebounds. He also scored 27 points in games one and five of the series and had double-doubles of 16 points and 10 assists and 14 points and 10 assists in games three and four of the series.
1986-87: 15.6 points, 52.7% FG, 11.6 FGA), 7.9 assists, 2.6 steals, 38.6 minutes, 68 games, All-Star, 2nd team All-Defense, 6th in DPOY voting
The ‘86-’87 Sixers won 45 games and lost in the first round to the Bucks three games to two. Cheeks in the series shot 53% and averaged 17.6 points, 8.8 assists, and 1.8 steals. In Game 1 of the series, Cheeks scored 20 points with 9 assists. He registered 17 points and 11 assists in Game 2, and 26 points and 8 assists in Game 3.
1987-88: 13.7 points (49.5% FG, 10.9 FGA), 8.0 assists, 2.1 steals, 36.3 minutes, 79 games, All-Star, 8th in DPOY voting
Forty-three games into the ‘87-’88 season, with the Sixers sporting a 20-23 record, Guokas was let go in favor of Jim Lynam. Lynam coached the team to a 16-23 mark and the Sixers missed the postseason for the first time since the 1974-75 season.
The 1988-89 season was Cheeks’ last as a Sixer. Lynam coached the team to 46 wins and the team was back in the playoffs. The Sixers lost 3-0 in the first round to the New York Knicks, a series where Cheeks averaged 17.7 points, 13.0 assists, and 2.3 steals. He registered 19 points and 16 assists in Game 1, 16 points and 12 assists in Game 2, and 18 points and 11 assists in Game 3.
That offseason, Cheeks was dealt to the San Antonio Spurs. Cheeks was again traded only fifty games into his Spurs’ tenure (10.9 points, 6.0 assists, 1.6 steals), to the Knicks for Rod Strickland. From 1990 through to his final season of ‘92-‘93, Cheeks played in eighteen playoff games. In 1990’s first round against the Celtics, the 33-year-old posted 12 points and 11 assists in Game 3 and 15 points and 12 assists in Game 4. In Game 5 of the series, he scored 21 points with 7 assists. Cheeks’ last playoff career double-double came on May 12, 1990 in Game 3 of the Conference Semifinals against the Detroit Pistons. The veteran posted 14 points, 12 assists, and 7 rebounds in the game.
Cheeks spent the final two seasons of his career (‘91-’92 and ‘92-’93) with the Hawks and Nets, playing 91 games between the two clubs. He retired in 1993 with career averages of 11.1 points, 6.7 assists, and 2.1 steals in 1,101 games, 978 starts. He started 852 of 853 games as a Sixer, posting averages of 12.2 points, 7.3 assists, and 2.3 steals.
Said Cheeks’ Sixer head coach Cunningham to writer Jim Nechas in 1988:
“He’s a special young man, and he always will be to me because he was the first player we ever drafted while I was coaching. Whatever you tell him, you only have to tell him that one time. He will absorb it, and he’ll do it. He’s a very quiet, shy young man, but he’s a fierce competitor.”
Beginning in 1994, Cheeks embarked on a coaching career that saw him most recently as an assistant coach with the Knicks in 2024-25. From 2020-2024, he was an assistant with the Chicago Bulls, and from 2015-2020 he was an assistant with the Oklahoma City Thunder. Prior to coaching the Pistons for fifty games (21-29) in 2013-14, Cheeks was a Thunder assistant from 2009-2013. From the 2001-02 season to the 2008-09 season, Cheeks was a head coach, first in Portland until 2004-05. Cheeks led the Blazers to 49 and 50 wins in ‘01-‘02 and ‘02-‘03. Prior to Portland, he was a Sixer assistant (1994-95 to 1999-00). From 2005-2009, he was the 76ers’ head coach.
In 2018, Cheeks was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. He is the Sixers’ all-time leader in both assists (6,212) and steals (1,942).
The city of Chicago has produced great NBA talent, and Cheeks is part of that special group.
Happy 69th Birthday, Maurice Cheeks.
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