Matt Guokas Explained

Matt Guokas
Birth Date:	25 February 1944
Birth Place:	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Height Ft:	6
Height In:	5
Weight Lb:	175
High School:	Saint Joseph's Prep (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
College:	Saint Joseph's (1964–1966)
Draft Year:	1966
Draft Round:	1
Draft Pick:	9
Draft Team:	Philadelphia 76ers
Career Start:	1966
Career End:	1976
Career Position:	Shooting guard / small forward
Career Number:	14, 24, 11, 4, 10
Years1:	–
Team1:	Philadelphia 76ers
Team2:	Chicago Bulls
Years3:	–
Team3:	Cincinnati Royals / Kansas City-Omaha Kings
Team4:	Houston Rockets
Team5:	Buffalo Braves
Years6:	–
Team6:	Chicago Bulls
Team7:	Kansas City Kings
Cyears1:	–
Cteam1:	Philadelphia 76ers (assistant)
Cyears2:	–
Cteam2:	Philadelphia 76ers
Cyears3:	–
Cteam3:	Orlando Magic
Highlights:	As player: NBA champion (1967) Consensus second-team All-American (1966) As assistant coach: NBA champion (1983)
Stat1label:	Points
Stat1value:	4,285 (5.8 ppg)
Stat2label:	Rebounds
Stat2value:	1,446 (2.0 rpg)
Stat3label:	Assists
Stat3value:	2,174 (3.0 apg)
Bbr:	guokama02

Matthew George Guokas Jr. (;^[1] 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), 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. 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

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
†	Philadelphia	69		11.7	.389	.605	1.2	1.5			3.0
	Philadelphia	82		19.7	.483	.776	2.3	2.3			6.1
	Philadelphia	72		11.6	.426	.667	1.3	1.4			3.3
	Philadelphia	80		19.5	.454	.711	2.7	2.8			6.1
	Philadelphia	1	0	5.0	-	-	1.0	.0			.0
	Chicago	78	35	28.3	.493	.732	2.0	4.4			6.6
	Cincinnati	61		32.4	.496	.771	2.3	5.3			7.3
	Kansas City–Omaha	79		36.0	.570	.822	3.1	5.1			9.1
	Kansas City–Omaha	9		35.0	.494	.667	2.3	4.0	.9	.1	10.0
	Houston	39		25.8	.458	.750	1.5	3.4	.7	.4	5.3
	Buffalo	27		20.3	.555	.500	1.5	2.6	.7	.2	4.9
	Chicago	82	12	25.5	.510	.757	1.7	2.2	.5	.2	7.2
	Chicago	18	0	15.4	.486	.818	.9	1.6	.3	.1	4.5
	Kansas City	38		13.6	.374	.563	1.2	1.1	.3	.1	2.2
Career		735	47	22.6	.489	.727	2.0	3.0	.5	.2	5.8 Playoffs Year Team GP MPG FG% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG 1967† Philadelphia 15* 16.8 .406 .765 2.0 1.5 4.3 1968 Philadelphia 13 25.2 .380 .741 3.3 2.3 6.2 1969 Philadelphia 5 20.0 .407 .800 2.4 1.6 5.2 1970 Philadelphia 2 11.5 .750 1.000 1.5 .5 6.5 1971 Chicago 6 13.8 .571 .800 1.3 2.0 3.3 1974 Buffalo 6 14.2 .533 .750 1.3 2.2 .0 .2 3.2 1975 Chicago 13 15.5 .343 .875 1.1 .8 .5 .1 2.4 Career 60 17.9 .417 .776 2.0 1.6 .4 .1 4.2 Head coaching record Philadelphia 82 54 28 2nd in Atlantic 12 6 6 Lost in Conference semifinals Philadelphia 82 45 37 2nd in Atlantic 5 2 3 Lost in First round Philadelphia 43 20 23 (fired) — — — — — Orlando 82 18 64 7th in Central — — — — Missed playoffs Orlando 82 31 51 4th in Midwest — — — — Missed playoffs Orlando 82 21 61 7th in Atlantic — — — — Missed playoffs Orlando 82 41 41 4th in Atlantic — — — — Missed playoffs Career 535 230 305 17 8 9 Personal life Guokas's father (Matt Sr.), uncle (Al), and son (Matt III) have all played for Saint Joseph's University.^[5] ^[6] External links

Notes and References

1. Scouting Reports . Sports Illustrated . January 13, 2023 . December 6, 1965.
2. Web site: Bio: Matt Guokas, Jr.. St. Joseph's University. 29 May 2017.
3. Web site: Dunlap . Evan . Whom should Magic hire to replace Matt Guokas as television color analyst? . Orlando Pinstriped Post . November 10, 2023 . May 29, 2013.
4. Web site: Matt Guokas NBA stats. Basketball Reference. Sports Reference LLC. 18 May 2024.
5. Book: McKinney . Jack . Gordon . Robert . Jack McKinney's Tales from Saint Joseph's Hardwood: The Hawk Will Never Die . 2005 . Sports Publishing LLC . 9781582619293 . 85 . November 24, 2018.
6. Web site: Saint Joseph's men's basketball 2018–19 media guide . sjuhawks.com . November 24, 2018 . 91.