It was announced today that Grant Hill, Jason Kidd and Steve Nash will be inducted to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame’s Class for 2018. Those are the names that most are fixated on.
But for many old-school hoops heads, a great sense of joy and relief, along with some subsiding anger, was felt when word came down that Maurice Cheeks was also among this year’s inductees.
Few players running the point will ever, in my eyes, match the understated brilliance of Maurice Edward Cheeks.
Maurice Cheeks – Great 76ers Players
Uploaded by Hal15Greer on 2013-01-01.
For some reason, Cheeks was rarely mentioned during debates over the years about the games greatest floor generals. He needs to be. The fact that he wasnt already a member of the Hall of Fame is about as absurd and atrocious an oversight as the green-lighting of Leprechaun: Back to the Hood.
Mo was reared on the South Side of Chicago in the notorious Robert Taylor Homes. Those particular housing projects were, at one time, the countrys largest a two-mile stretch that consisted of twenty eight, 16-story apartment buildings that housed upwards of 27,000 residents.
Cheeks honed his game on the Windy Citys asphalt, the incubator that produced legendary names like Mark Aguirre, Isiah Thomas, Derrick Rose, Ben Wilson, Dwyane Wade, Cazzie Russell, Tim Hardaway, Terry Cummings, Quinn Buckner and Billy The Kid Harris, among countless others.
After tearing it up at the legendary DuSable High School, the slim floor general, who was generously listed as 6-foot-1, was overlooked, viewed by most major college programs as just another diminutive city guard.
While West Texas State (now West Texas A&M University) was trying to recruit a top Chicago player out of the Public Schools league named William Dice, he refused to come for a visit unless he could bring a friend along. That friend happened to be Maurice Cheeks.
THE LEGEND – Maurice Cheeks MIX by MISIEK
MY MIX FROM MISIEK MOVIE SHOW “There is absolutely no copyright infringement intended what so ever. All the contents in the following video are owned by there respective owners. The audio and visual clips in this video were put together for entertainment purposes only.”
Mo went on to become one of the greatest players ever in the Missouri Valley Conference, a four-year starter who, as a senior, averaged 17 points while connecting on 57% of his shot attempts, a ridiculous number for a perimeter player.
His years in tiny Canyon, Texas, were not easy. He often found himself homesick, threatening to leave school for his more comfortable South Side surroundings. But his mother would hear none of it.
“She said, ‘Maurice, you quit school and you better not come home,'” Cheeks once told The New York Times. “I stayed in school. I dont know what would have happened to me if I hadnt.”
While pro talent evaluators spent time scouting the Missouri Valley Conference, due mostly to the smooth stylistics of Indiana States Larry Bird, Cheeks stood out with his speed, leadership, composed demeanor, floor vision and passing skills.
Selected by Philly in the second round of the 1978 draft, his unselfish style and ability to push a frenetic attack in the open court elevated the Sixers from a talented collection of disparate parts to a cohesive force to be reckoned with.
Maurice Cheeks (33pts/7asts/6stls) vs. Spurs (1979 Playoffs)
Rookie Maurice Cheeks gets out of character and scores an unexpected 33 points in an Eastern Conference semifinal game. Those 33 points would remain as his career-high as he didn’t even surpass that mark in a regular season bout. The young Cheeks played agressively, was pesky on defense and just went balls to the wall.
In only his second year in the league, he pushed the Sixers into the first of their three 80s Finals appearances, where they lost to the Lakers in Magic Jonsons phenomenal rookie season.
During the 1982-1983 season, he quarterbacked one of the greatest starting fives in the history of the NBA, leading the incomparable crew of Andrew The Boston Strangler Toney, Bobby Jones, Moses Malone and Julius Erving to the promised land.
One of my greatest personal thrills was sitting in Madison Square Garden, watching an older Mo Cheeks quarterback the New York Knicks. Seeing him push the rock took some of the pain of Rod Stricklands departure away.
Patrick Ewing (33p/19r) vs Larry Bird (31p/8r/8a) – Highlights 1990 Playoffs Game 3
http://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/199005020NYK.html Down 2-0 and facing elimination, Ewing and the Knicks come up big to hold off Bird and the Celtics. They would go on to eventually win the series 3-2, one of the more remarkable comebacks in Knicks/basketball history…
And Ill never forget his performance in May of 1990, when the Knicks returned to the Garden down two games to none against the Celtics in the first round of the playoffs.
In Games 3 and 4, he handed out more assists than welfare, showing how a true point guard can dominate the game without having to score.
Back in Boston for the decisive Game 5, in a building where the Knicks had lost 26 consecutive games, he was simply the true embodiment of basketball magnificence.
In the winner-take-all series finale, Cheeks composure and flawless floor game was more gangster than Michael Corleones offer to Senator Geary.
Boston was up by seven as the third quarter wound down. Things looked bleak until Mo said to Bostons late, great guards Dennis Johnson and Reggie Lewis, My offer is this. Nothing!
He aggressively attacked the basket converting one improbable layup through traffic after another connected from long range and superbly dishing the rock to Patrick Ewing, Charles Oakley, Derek Harper and Gerald Wilkins. By the start of the decisive fourth quarter, New York was up by four.
Patrick Ewing: Leading the Knicks over Bird and the Celtics (31 points, 1990 Playoffs)
http://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/199005060BOS.html
They would never trail for another minute. People will always, as they should, talk about Ewing’s dominant performance with 31 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds, along with Oakley’s stupendous work on the glass with 17 rebounds to go along with his 26 points.
But Mo, whod led entirely with his passing skills in the Knicks previous two victories, finished with one of his trademark, understated and under-recognized performances: 21 points while converting eight of his ten field goal attempts, seven assists and a couple of steals.
Those performances, a cherry on top of his brilliant body of work with the Sixers, encapsulates the genius of Mo Cheeks. He remains one of my favorite point guards of all-time, the consummate floor general with bizzaro handles, night-goggle vision, leadership and an uncompromising work ethic.
The Basketball Hall of Fame without Mo Cheeks was an injustice that has finally been rectified.
As we watch some of the most exceptional point guards today like Chris Paul, Kyrie Irving and Damian Lillard among others, let’s hearken back to the little man from the Chicago housing projects whose game can be seen within strands of some of the best floor generals running the show nowadays .
And to the Basketball Hall of Fame, it’s about time ya’ll got it right and inducted Mo Cheeks. Better late than never, but the man should have never had to wait this long.
