Matt Guokas

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For his father, see Matt Guokas Sr.
Matt Guokas
Personal information
Born (1944-02-25) February 25, 1944 (age 77)
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
NationalityAmerican
Listed height6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
Listed weight175 lb (79 kg)
Career information
High schoolSaint Joseph's Prep
(Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
CollegeSaint Joseph's (1964–1966)
NBA draft1966 / Round: 1 / Pick: 9th overall
Selected by the Philadelphia 76ers
Playing career1966–1976
PositionShooting guard / Small forward
Number14, 24, 11, 4, 10
Career history
As player:
1966–1970Philadelphia 76ers
1970–1971Chicago Bulls
1971–1973Cincinnati Royals / Kansas City-Omaha Kings
1973–1974Houston Rockets
1974Buffalo Braves
1974–1975Chicago Bulls
1975–1976Kansas City Kings
As coach:
1982–1985Philadelphia 76ers (assistant)
1985–1988Philadelphia 76ers
1989–1993Orlando Magic
Career highlights and awards
As player:

As assistant coach:

Career statistics
Points4,285 (5.8 ppg)
Rebounds1,446 (2.0 rpg)
Assists2,174 (3.0 apg)
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com

Matthew George Guokas Jr. (/ˈɡuːkəs/; born February 25, 1944) is an American former professional basketball player and coach. His father, Matt Sr. and uncle, Al, have also played in the NBA.

Guokas and his father, Matt Sr., were the first father-son duo to both win NBA championships as players; this feat has since been repeated by the Barrys (Rick and Brent), the Waltons (Bill and Luke) and the Thompsons (Mychal and Klay).

Biography[]

Playing career[]

Guokas played college basketball for hometown Saint Joseph's University, where he set many school records in assists and steals.[citation needed] He was an All-American as a junior in 1966, and graduated in 1967.[1] After SJU, Guokas was selected in the first round by the Philadelphia 76ers team and played for the team featuring Wilt Chamberlain, Hal Greer, Chet Walker and Billy Cunningham that ended the eight-year championship streak of the Boston Celtics. He also played with the Buffalo Braves, Chicago Bulls, Cincinnati Royals, Houston Rockets, and Kansas City Kings, all of the NBA. In the 1972–73 season, Guokas finished second (to Chamberlain) in the NBA in field goal percentage with a .570 clip during that season.

Coaching and broadcasting[]

Guokas later returned to the Sixers as an assistant coach under Billy Cunningham, and was named head coach when Cunningham retired in 1985. He led the Sixers to two second-place finishes, but was fired after a slow start to the 1987–88 season.

After a year away from the game, he served as the first coach of the Orlando Magic, steering the team through its first four years, the last of which saw the Magic come within one game of making the playoffs in Shaquille O'Neal's rookie year. He compiled a combined 230–305 career record in parts of seven seasons.

He formerly worked as a TV color commentator and sports analyst for the Magic on Fox Sports Florida and Sun Sports cable channels, teaming with veteran NBA and college sportscaster David Steele. He also served as a color commentator for NBA on NBC broadcasts during the 1990s and was a color commentator for the Cleveland Cavaliers for Fox Sports Ohio cable channel for a number of years in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

Head coaching record[]

Legend
Regular season G Games coached W Games won L Games lost W–L % Win–loss %
Playoffs PG Playoff games PW Playoff wins PL Playoff losses PW–L % Playoff win–loss %
hide
Team Year G W L W–L% Finish PG PW PL PW–L% Result
Philadelphia 1985–86 82 54 28 .659 2nd in Atlantic 12 6 6 .500 Lost in Conference Semifinals
Philadelphia 1986–87 82 45 37 .549 2nd in Atlantic 5 2 3 .400 Lost in First Round
Philadelphia 1987–88 43 20 23 .465 (fired) — — — — —
Orlando 1989–90 82 18 64 .220 7th in Central — — — — Missed playoffs
Orlando 1990–91 82 31 51 .378 4th in Midwest — — — — Missed playoffs
Orlando 1991–92 82 21 61 .256 7th in Atlantic — — — — Missed playoffs
Orlando 1992–93 82 41 41 .500 4th in Atlantic — — — — Missed playoffs
Career 535 230 305 .430 17 8 9 .471

Personal life[]

Guokas's father (Matt Sr.), uncle (Al) and son (Matt III) have all played for Saint Joseph's University.[2][3]

References[]

  1. ^ "Bio: Matt Guokas, Jr". St. Joseph's University. Retrieved 29 May 2017.
  2. ^ McKinney, Jack; Gordon, Robert (2005). Jack McKinney's Tales from Saint Joseph's Hardwood: The Hawk Will Never Die. Sports Publishing LLC. p. 85. ISBN 9781582619293. Retrieved November 24, 2018.
  3. ^ "Saint Joseph's men's basketball 2018–19 media guide" (PDF). sjuhawks.com. p. 91. Retrieved November 24, 2018.

External links[]

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