Cheeks in 2011
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Oklahoma City Thunder | |
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Position | Assistant coach |
League | NBA |
Personal information | |
Born |
Chicago, Illinois |
September 8, 1956
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 | |
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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 has also served as head coach of the Portland Trail Blazers, Philadelphia 76ers and Detroit Pistons.
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.
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. He averaged 11.7 points per game for his career and notched over 2 steals per contest.