YouTube Gold: Maurice Cheeks
Cheeks was to basketball what Ringo Starr was to the Beatles
After the NBA-ABA merger, the Philadelphia 76ers acquired George McGinnis from the Indiana Pacers. He teamed up with Julius Erving and, along with Doug Collins, Darryl Dawkins and Lloyd Free, later to be known as World B. Free, and many people thought that team just had too many stars. It was heavily favored against Bill Walton’s Portland Trailblazers but lost the championship to them in 1977.
The team restructured brilliantly, trading for Bobby Jones and Moses Malone, who joined Erving up front. And they drafted brilliantly, picking Andrew Toney in 1980 and pairing him with Maurice Cheeks, a point guard they took in the second round in 1978.
As it turned out, Cheeks was the perfect guard for the Sixers. He was quiet, unselfish, and incredibly loyal.
With Cheeks running the show, Philly rose to great heights, winning the NBA championship in the 1982-83 season with just one loss.
As you’ll see he was the ultimate point guard, but when needed, he could take a clutch shot too. Now a member of the Hall of Fame, Cheeks was quiet but also relentless. He didn’t get a cool nickname like Toney the Boston Strangler did. He never needed attention. All he wanted was to win.