Chicago Bulls: Maurice Cheeks added to Donovan’s staff as assistant

Another addition to the coaching staff for Billy Donovan and the Chicago Bulls was announced on Nov. 2, with ex-Thunder assistant Maurice Cheeks.

The retooling of the coaching staff of the former Oklahoma City Thunder and Florida Gators hoops head coach Billy Donovan, hired by the Chicago Bulls to replace Jim Boylen back on Sep. 22, is firmly in process heading into the month of November. Donovan was able to hire a former assistant coach of his on staff with the Thunder early this week.

A report from Shams Charania of The Athletic on his Twitter timeline on the morning of Nov. 2 showed that Donovan and the Bulls hired former Thunder assistant coach Maurice Cheeks. This veteran NBA coach is the most notable name to join Donovan’s staff with the Bulls among the three additions that were announced thus far.

The first coaching job that Cheeks ever held in the NBA was as an assistant coach with the Philadelphia 76ers back in the 1990’s.

Cheeks started out his NBA head coaching career as the head coach of the Portland Trail Blazers heading into the 2001-02 season. He was the Blazers head coach through the 2004-05 season, where he posted a record of 162-139 in the regular season (.538 winning percentage), and a playoff record of 3-7 (.300 winning percentage).

After his run with the Blazers ended, Cheeks took the head coaching job with the Sixers. He was the Sixers head coach from the 2005-2009. And there he posted a record of 122-147 (.454 winning percentage) in the regular season and 2-4 (.333 winning percentage) in the playoffs.

Since then, Cheeks was the Detroit Pistons head coach for part of the 2013-14 season. And he was an assistant coach on staff with the Thunder throughout the rest of the 2010’s up to this point.

During his playing days in the NBA from the late 1970’s to the mid-1990’s, Cheeks was a four-time All-Star selection, five-time All-Defensive Team selection, and a one-time NBA Champion. His one title came during the 1982-83 season, with the Sixers at the age of 26.

Now at the age of 64, the Chicago native Cheeks is a big addition to Donovan’s coaching staff with the Bulls. He was on staff with the Thunder for each of the five years when Donovan was their head coach.

Cheeks now joins the Bulls coaching staff that will also include Donovan at the top and Chris Fleming, John Bryant, and Josh Longstaff as the assistants. Fleming was on staff during the 2019-20 season in the Windy City, and Bryant and Longstaff were recently added.