Maurice Cheeks would like to thank the hall of fame voters...
by Barking Carnival Staff on Apr 6, 2010 4:42 PM CDT
in Texas Longhorns and Other Basketball
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Printfor rightfully including Dr. Jerry Buss in Springfield.
I don't have anything against Jerry Buss--other than the open-collared shirt look, anyway--clearly he's the most successful owner in NBA history. Nor do I resent the rest of the hall of fame class, found here.
Yet again, however, the voters ignored one of the best basketball players ever to grace the game. And "grace" he did. Care to compare his peer reputation with that of Scottie Pippen (who is, as of today, inside the velvet HOF rope)?
Michael Lewis wrote an NYT piece on Shane Battier, the "no stats all-star," adapting moneyball principles to today's NBA. Scipio covered this on BC about a year ago. Battier, Lewis wrote, made his team better and the other team worse, largely in ways hard to quantify.
Michael Lewis would have loved Maurice Cheeks. Absent the Battier-irony, Cheeks actually was an all-star (four-times) and an all-NBA defender, as well. He also made his team better, and the other worse, in some easily quantifiable ways, ending his career as the all-time NBA leader in steals. Read that again. The NBA keeps five major statistical categories. Cheeks ended his career as the all-time leader in one of them. Jerry Buss is in the Hall of Fame.
Cheeks is still fifth all-time in steals, tenth in assists, and generally defined floor leadership in the NBA for about a ten-year period, even dragging the slowly rotting corpse of the New York Knicks into the second-round of the 1990 playoffs after his best Philadelphia years were far behind him.
Of the new inductees, Karl Malone is a no-brainer and, of course, so is Pippen and his six rings (we can argue all day about his incredibly good fortune, but that is another post entirely). But Dennis Johnson? Certainly DJ was a finals MVP (1979) and his body of work is deserving (and I am sure as hell not going to speak ill of the recently departed). But if Johnson makes the cut, so then should Cheeks.
As for Gus Johnson, the voters took complete leave of their senses. Yes, he was a spectacular player (think an ancestral Dominique Wilkins)...for about six full seasons. I can just hear Bernard King and Artis Gilmore trading "what the f...s" over the phone.
Cheeks would have been better served playing on worse teams. His scoring average certainly would have been higher, which is more compelling than all of those boring steals and assists. He shot over 50% from the floor and 80% from the line and had a knack for drawing contact.
I am unaware if he actually ever saved any children from an orphanage fire, but he did do this once:
Maybe someday that will be enough.
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Nice snag on the National Anthem. I remember that vividly. Pure class.
I’ll never understand HOF voting in any sport.
by magnusbleuveigner on Apr 6, 2010 4:58 PM CDT reply actions
Look, it’s a travesty that Guy Lewis is not in there. It’s hard to take the voters seriously without him.
by Bob in Houston on Apr 6, 2010 5:17 PM CDT reply actions
Don Nelson is five wins away from besting Lenny Wilkens’ all time number of NBA victories by a coach, but he will never get in because of his insistence on being an unconventional thinker.
by Confused and Dazed on Apr 6, 2010 5:39 PM CDT reply actions
Never saw that National Anthem thing. Very cool. The ultimate assist.
by Sailor Ripley on Apr 6, 2010 6:04 PM CDT reply actions
When the Celtics got D.J., I was certain that their main goal was to have somebody to guard Andrew Toney. Toney was unstoppable when he was on. I think that the Celtics were pleasantly surprised that D.J. was a first rate player all around.
by Dave on Apr 6, 2010 10:31 PM CDT reply actions
Jones, great article. The Sixers were my late-great pop’s favorite team and Mo Cheeks got top billing in our household. Nice dime for one of the game’s great floor generals.
by Trips Right on Apr 6, 2010 10:31 PM CDT reply actions
Mo is hanging around Alvin Robertson/Jack Sikma territory.
Dennis Johnson broke through because of his death, the titles, and the fact that his career was just so damn productive. He was also The Man for Seattle pre-Boston and the premier lockdown defender of his time.
Your perception of Pippen strikes me as odd. He’s a legit Top 50 All-Time player.
Can’t speak to Gus Johnson at all. I think you nailed that one with Bernard King though.
Mo Cheeks:
Pros
Always raised his game in the playoffs
Good at everything
Unselfish, prototype PG
Pre-expansion NBA
Cons
Third or Fourth best player on the 76ers best teams
11.1 ppg career scoring average
Overshadowed by Celtics/Lakers
by Scipio Tex on Apr 7, 2010 12:16 AM CDT reply actions
Trips — thanks
Scipio — You’re real close. Database basketball rates Cheeks as the 11th most likely (not necessarily most deserving) eligible hall of famer; that’s behind Sikma, well ahead of Robertson. Mitch Richmond is the best comp.
DJ’s title with Seattle makes the difference. He was a five-time all star, 14 ppg career and the third or fourth-best player on his best Celtic teams. His productivity not much different than Cheeks’s.
I noted that Pippen was a no-brainer for the HOF. I also noted he was incredibly fortunate as to how his career played out. Both of those things are true. Pippen would have been a great player regardless; he might not have won six titles.
by jonestopten on Apr 7, 2010 6:00 AM CDT reply actions
Mo Cheeks. Man I remember growing up and watching the NBA game of the week every Sunday afternoon. Getting to watch the late 70s early 80s battles between LA, Boston, Philly, Milwaukee, San Antonio, Seattle and other good teams was incredible. The best was when you’d get Lakers/Celtics, Celtics/76ers. That was some great basketball. I would even skip eating out after church to make sure I could see those games. I miss that.
Mo Cheeks most definitley (as Jason Kidd would say) needs to be in the HOF.
by Extra Blocking Surface. on Apr 7, 2010 11:48 AM CDT reply actions
WTH, I forget to switch my handle back to Holy Cow. I should never desecrate the ESB name with an NBA comment.
by Holy Cow on Apr 7, 2010 11:49 AM CDT reply actions
I grew up a 76ers fan largely because of Cheeks. He was a baller’s baller. His all-around game was a beautiful thing to watch. If Allen Iverson had Cheek’s ego, Iverson would have had had a couple of championships already.
The criteria for these awards is purposely nebulous so that folks who aren’t stat monsters have a shot. Cheeks played in the golden age for the Association and was legitimately amongst its best. A Hall of Fame without him is a fraud.
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