For his father, see Matt Guokas Sr..
Matt Guokas
Birth dateFebruary 25, 1944 (age 82)
Birth placePhiladelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Height6 ft
Height in5
Weight lb175
High schoolSt. Joseph's Prep
(Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
CollegeSaint Joseph's (1964–1966)
Draft year1966
Draft round1
Draft pick9
Draft teamPhiladelphia 76ers
Career start1966
Career end1976
Career number14, 24, 11, 4, 10
Years 1–
Team 1Philadelphia 76ers
Team 2Chicago Bulls
Years 3–
Team 3Cincinnati Royals / Kansas City-Omaha Kings
Team 4Houston Rockets
Team 5Buffalo Braves
Years 6–
Team 6Chicago Bulls
Team 7Kansas City Kings
Cyears 1–
Cteam 1Philadelphia 76ers (assistant)
Cyears 2–
Cteam 2Philadelphia 76ers
Cyears 3–
Cteam 3Orlando Magic
Highlights

As player:

As assistant coach:

Stat1labelPoints
Stat1value4,285 (5.8 ppg)
Stat2labelRebounds
Stat2value1,446 (2.0 rpg)
Stat3labelAssists
Stat3value2,174 (3.0 apg)
Bbrguokama02

Matthew George Guokas Jr. (/ˈɡuːkəs/ GOO-kəs;[1] born February 25, 1944) is an American former professional basketball player and coach. His father, Matt Sr. and uncle, Al, 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), the Thompsons (Mychal and Klay), and the Paytons (Gary Payton and Gary Payton II).

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.[2] 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 called the Magic's games from 2004 to 2013.[3] 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.

Career playing statistics

NBA

Source[4]

Regular season

YearTeamGPGSMPGFG%FT%RPGAPGSPGBPGPPG
†Philadelphia6911.7.389.6051.21.53.0
Philadelphia8219.7.483.7762.32.36.1
Philadelphia7211.6.426.6671.31.43.3
Philadelphia8019.5.454.7112.72.86.1
Philadelphia105.0––1.0.0.0
Chicago783528.3.493.7322.04.46.6
Cincinnati6132.4.496.7712.35.37.3
Kansas City–Omaha7936.0.570.8223.15.19.1
Kansas City–Omaha935.0.494.6672.34.0.9.110.0
Houston3925.8.458.7501.53.4.7.45.3
Buffalo2720.3.555.5001.52.6.7.24.9
Chicago821225.5.510.7571.72.2.5.27.2
Chicago18015.4.486.818.91.6.3.14.5
Kansas City3813.6.374.5631.21.1.3.12.2
Career7354722.6.489.7272.03.0.5.2

5.8

Playoffs

YearTeamGPMPGFG%FT%RPGAPGSPGBPGPPG
1967†Philadelphia15*16.8.406.7652.01.54.3
1968Philadelphia1325.2.380.7413.32.36.2
1969Philadelphia520.0.407.8002.41.65.2
1970Philadelphia211.5.7501.0001.5.56.5
1971Chicago613.8.571.8001.32.03.3
1974Buffalo614.2.533.7501.32.2.0.23.2
1975Chicago1315.5.343.8751.1.8.5.12.4
Career6017.9.417.7762.01.6.4.1

4.2

Head coaching record

Philadelphia8254282nd in Atlantic1266Lost in Conference semifinals
Philadelphia8245372nd in Atlantic523Lost in First round
Philadelphia432023(fired)—————
Orlando8218647th in Central————Missed playoffs
Orlando8231514th in Midwest————Missed playoffs
Orlando8221617th in Atlantic————Missed playoffs
Orlando8241414th in Atlantic————Missed playoffs
Career5352303051789

Personal life

Guokas's father (Matt Sr.), uncle (Al), and son (Matt III) all played for Saint Joseph's University.[5][6]

References

References

  1. ^ "Scouting Reports". Sports Illustrated. December 6, 1965. Retrieved January 13, 2023.
  2. ^ "Bio: Matt Guokas, Jr.". St. Joseph's University. Retrieved 29 May 2017.
  3. ^ Dunlap, Evan (May 29, 2013). "Whom should Magic hire to replace Matt Guokas as television color analyst?". Orlando Pinstriped Post. Retrieved November 10, 2023.
  4. ^ "Matt Guokas NBA stats". Basketball Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved 18 May 2024.
  5. ^ 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.
  6. ^ "Saint Joseph's men's basketball 2018–19 media guide". sjuhawks.com. p. 91. Retrieved November 24, 2018.