Their playing careers stretched over the same era. Their head-coaching debuts came in the same season.
And their paths will intersect again this weekend when Portland coach Maurice Cheeks returns to his hometown of Chicago to visit his mother and brothers during the All-Star break.
Given their low-key, no-nonsense approaches, neither Cheeks nor Bulls coach Bill Cartwright likely gave a second thought to the similarities that brought them to the Rose Garden sidelines Sunday night. But the journeys are uncannily similar, as are the challenges they currently face.
Cheeks, a graduate of DuSable High School, overcame an unheralded career at West Texas State to become the 76ers’ all-time assists and steals leader, play in four All-Star Games and earn four selections to the NBA All-Defensive team. Though only a second-round pick in 1978, Cheeks became a clutch, fearless player in his 15 seasons, which included an NBA championship in 1983.
Cartwright left the University of San Francisco as the first-round draft pick of the New York Knicks. But, like Cheeks, he made his mark doing the dirty work–grabbing rebounds, playing tough defense, throwing the occasional elbow. His 16-year career included three Bulls’ championships.
Both Cheeks and Cartwright were captains. Both were considered students of the game. And both served long apprenticeships as assistants–Cheeks with Philadelphia–before getting the nod as head men.
“They’re both excellent former players who are very modest and soft-spoken,” said Portland guard Steve Kerr, who watched Cartwright as an assistant on the second three-peat team.
“Guys like that kind of have an automatic respect factor from people. There’s no bravado. It’s just, `Hey, I’ve been there before. I’ve done it. But I don’t need to tell anybody.’ It’s a very calming influence on a team, especially a young team.”
That’s the type of team Cartwright inherited when he replaced Tim Floyd on Dec. 28, four days after Floyd resigned from a difficult rebuilding situation. The Bulls are 6-13 since the change.
“Whether or not it shows up in the standings, they’re a very competitive and poised team and they play very hard,” said Blazers forward Scottie Pippen, who played with and under Cartwright. “If I have a soft spot [for the Bulls] it’s basically because of Bill Cartwright. I have the utmost respect for him.”
Teenagers Tyson Chandler and Eddy Curry are the core of the Bulls’ rebuilding effort. Cartwright must deal with personalities and age differences as disparate as theirs and that of 38-year-old Charles Oakley.
Oakley has missed the last two games with a sore right wrist and didn’t practice Monday. He’s questionable for Wednesday night’s game against the Lakers. One of Cartwright’s challenges will be to get Oakley to accept a diminished role if Chandler continues to play well.
“I didn’t bring myself here, so I’ll have to deal with it,” Oakley said. “Only 2 1/2 months left [this season].”
Cartwright’s approach is simple. He’s direct. He pulled Curry aside recently to explain his reduced role and will do so with Oakley.
“I feel like I’m fair and I treat everybody the same,” he said.
Cheeks knows all about headstrong players. He inherited a team that drove Mike Dunleavy out and is full of players–Pippen, Rasheed Wallace–who are familiar with the adjective “disgruntled.”
Yet Portland is one of the hottest teams in the league with 12 victories in 15 games.
“This is on-the-job training,” Cheeks said. “I’m sure Bill will say that there’s more to coaching than basketball. It’s how you deal with players. They understand basketball.”
Cheeks said he knew Cartwright would be a good coach. Cartwright isn’t sure he has arrived there yet, but he does know there’s no other place he would rather be than trying.
“Head coaching is quite a bit to keep track of,” he said. “It’s challenging. The big thing is trying to get these guys to play hard every night.
“If you do just that one thing without executing anything, you’ll win your share of games. I like being a head coach. It’s what I thought about for years.”
Cheeks said he did as well.
