Maurice Cheeks is running the show again for the Philadelphia 76ers .
Philadelphia 76ers
maurice cheeks run philadelphia 76er
Maurice Cheeks is running the show again for the <m> Philadelphia 76ers </m> .
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Mo Cheeks will take over as new coach
Updated : May 24 , 2005 , 3 : 23 PM ET
Maurice Cheeks is running the show again for the <m> Philadelphia 76ers </m> .
In a surprising move nearly three weeks following the end of their season , the Sixers fired Jim O'Brien on Monday after one season as coach and replaced him with Cheeks , one of the most popular players in franchise history .
"Mo is family .
Mo bleeds 76ers . He bleeds Philadelphia , " team president Billy King said .
Cheeks will be introduced as Philadelphia's 21st head coach at a Tuesday news conference .
Philadelphia is certainly banking on the former point guard to have a happier homecoming than O'Brien , a Philadelphia native who played for Saint Joseph's .
O'Brien's stubbornness and seemingly unwavering belief in a system that didn't fit his players cost him his job despite a 43 - 39 record and a return to the playoffs .
"I just felt the direction we were going and the overall play wasn't where we wanted to go , " King said .
O'Brien just finished the first year of a three - year deal that included an option and paid him about $4 million a year .
O'Brien , though , was not very popular with his players - - most notably former All - Star Chris Webber - - who often complained about their roles .
King said after the Sixers were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs by Detroit that he planned to bring O'Brien back .
After meeting with his players and other members of management , King had a change of heart and decided over the weekend he had to make a change .
Certainly , King knows a thing or two about making changes - - Cheeks will be the fifth Sixers coach in four years under his watch .
Larry Brown left for Detroit following the 2002 - 03 season , and assistant Randy Ayers was promoted and fired 52 games into the 2003 - 04 season before he was replaced by Chris Ford .
"I knew this thing was coming , and it wasn't an easy thing for anybody , " Brown said from Miami before coaching the Pistons in the Eastern Conference finals .
"Knowing Billy , it's not easy to let a coach go .
His relationship with Randy was pretty strong .
I think it was hard for him to let Chris go .
He was excited about having Jimmy , but I don't think it ever gets easy . "
Cheeks was one of the most popular 76ers from 1978 - 89 and played on Philadelphia's last championship team in 1983 .
He also spent seven seasons as an assistant coach for the 76ers , was part of the staff under Brown when they went to the NBA Finals in 2001 and developed a strong bond with Allen Iverson .
Cheeks was fired March 2 after nearly four seasons as coach of the Trail Blazers .
He had a 162 - 139 record in Portland , the fourth - highest win total in Blazers history .
Cheeks guided the team to the playoffs his first two seasons , but the players hardly made Cheeks' tenure easy - - on or off the court .
The team was nicknamed the "Jail Blazers" after several brushes with the law , many of them involving marijuana possession .
"If players have problems with Mo Cheeks . . . then there's got to be something wrong with those players , " King said .
But Cheeks' return to the city where he was a four - time All - Star shouldn't come as a surprise .
The Trail Blazers turned down Philadelphia's request to speak to Cheeks as a possible replacement for Brown , but the former point guard always remained popular with Philly fans and was at the top of the Sixers' short list to take over for Ford .
Now , they'll get their wish .
"We do not want to change coaches [ again ] , " Sixers chairman Ed Snider said .
"We've seen enough coaches . "
The Sixers will pay Ayers , O'Brien and Cheeks next season .
"I don't think it's something we're very proud of , but I don't think it reflects poorly , " Snider said .
O'Brien is the son - in - law of Hall of Fame coach Jack Ramsay .
He led the Sixers to a 10 - win improvement from a year ago and they returned to the playoffs , largely on the back of a healthy , happy Iverson .
While O'Brien avoided public spats with Iverson , he did not have the full support of the rest of the team .
Some of the younger players , like Samuel Dalembert and Willie Green , felt they did not develop like they should have under O'Brien and were unsure about their roles .
"In looking at the development of some of them , yeah , I wasn't pleased , " King said .
The Sixers also failed to really understand O'Brien's defense , a sticking point even in the postseason .
"Some of the criteria on our defense wasn't there , " King said .
Cheeks , who once famously came to the rescue of a 13 - year - old girl who forgot the words to the national anthem before a playoff game , now hopes to bail out his former team and bring them another championship .
"Mo has played this game here in Philadelphia , won a championship here in Philadelphia , understands players , understands defenses , understands the way I think we want to play , " King said .