Matthew George Guokas Jr. ( ; born February 25, 1944) is an American former professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

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 The NBA Finals is the annual championship series of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Eastern and Western Conference champions play a best-of-seven series to determine the league champion. The team that wins the series is award ...

as players; this feat has since been repeated by the Barrys (

Rick Rick may refer to: People *Rick (given name), a list of people with the given name *Alan Rick (born 1976), Brazilian politician, journalist, pastor and television personality *Johannes Rick (1869–1946), Austrian-born Brazilian priest and mycol ...

and Brent), the Waltons (

Bill Bill(s) may refer to: Common meanings * Banknote, paper cash (especially in the United States) * Bill (law), a proposed law put before a legislature * Invoice, commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer * Bill, a bird or animal's beak Pl ...

and

Luke Luke may refer to: People and fictional characters * Luke (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the name * Luke (surname), including a list of people with the name * Luke the Evangelist, author of the Gospel of Luk ...

), the Thompsons ( Mychal and

Klay Klay may refer to: Places * Klay, Liberia * Klay District, one of four districts of Bomi County, Liberia People People with the given name * Klay Hall, American animation director * George Klay Kieh (born 1956), Liberian politician * Klay Thompso ...

), and the Paytons (

Gary Payton Gary Dwayne Payton Sr. (born July 23, 1968) is an American former professional basketball player who was a point guard in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Widely considered one of the greatest point guards of all time, he is best know ...

and

Gary Payton II Gary Dwayne Payton II (born December 1, 1992) is an American professional basketball player for the Golden State Warriors of the National Basketball Association (NBA). As a junior and senior playing college basketball for the Oregon State Beavers ...

Biography

Playing career

Guokas played college basketball for hometown

Saint Joseph's University Saint Joseph's University (SJU or St. Joe's) is a Private university, private Jesuits, Jesuit university in Philadelphia, Lower Merion Township, Pennsylvania, and Lancaster, Pennsylvania. The university was founded by the Jesuits, Society of J ...

, where he set many school records in assists and steals. He was an All-American as a junior in 1966, and graduated in 1967. After SJU, Guokas was selected in the first round by the

Philadelphia 76ers The Philadelphia 76ers, also known colloquially as the Sixers, are an American professional basketball team based in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. The 76ers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlan ...

team and played for the team featuring

Wilt Chamberlain Wilton Norman Chamberlain ( ; August21, 1936 – October12, 1999) was an American professional basketball player. Standing tall, he played Center (basketball), center in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for 14 seasons. He was enshrin ...

Hal Greer Harold Everett Greer ( ; June 26, 1936 – April 14, 2018) was an American professional basketball player and coach. He played for the Syracuse Nationals / Philadelphia 76ers of the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1958 through 1973. A ...

Chet Walker Chester "Chet" Walker (February 22, 1940 – June 8, 2024) was an American professional basketball player in the National Basketball Association (NBA), and was selected in 2012 to become a member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. ...

and

Billy Cunningham William John Cunningham (born June 3, 1943) is an American former professional basketball player and coach, who was nicknamed the Kangaroo Kid for his leaping and record-setting rebounding abilities. He spent a total of 17 seasons with the NBA' ...

that ended the eight-year championship streak of the

Boston Celtics The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NBA), Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), ...

. He also played with the

Buffalo Braves The Buffalo Braves were an American professional basketball team based in Buffalo, New York. The Braves competed in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NBA), Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference ...

Chicago Bulls The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago. The Bulls compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division of the Eastern Conference. The team was founded on January 16 ...

Cincinnati Royals The Sacramento Kings are an American professional basketball team based in Sacramento, California. The Kings compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. The Kings are the ...

Houston Rockets The Houston Rockets are an American professional basketball team based in Houston. The Rockets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division (NBA), Southwest Division of the Western Conference (NBA) ...

, and

Kansas City Kings The Sacramento Kings are an American professional basketball team based in Sacramento, California. The Kings compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Confere ...

, 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

, 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 The Orlando Magic are an American professional basketball team based in Orlando, Florida. The Magic compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division (NBA), Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference (NB ...

, 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 Shaquille Rashaun O'Neal ( ; born March 6, 1972), commonly known as Shaq ( ), is an American former professional basketball player who is a sports analyst on the television program ''Inside the NBA''. He is a and Center (basketball), center ...

'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 FanDuel Sports Network Florida is an American regional sports network owned by Main Street Sports Group (formerly Diamond Sports Group) and operated as an affiliate of FanDuel Sports Network. The channel broadcasts local sports coverage in the ...

'' and ''

Sun Sports FanDuel Sports Network Sun is an American regional sports network owned by Main Street Sports Group (formerly Diamond Sports Group) and operated as an affiliate of FanDuel Sports Network. The channel broadcasts local coverage of professional, col ...

'' cable channels, teaming with veteran NBA and college sportscaster David Steele. He called the Magic's games from 2004 to 2013. He also served as a

color commentator A color commentator or expert commentator is a sports commentator who assists the main (play-by-play) commentator, typically by filling in when play is not in progress. The person may also be referred to as a summariser (outside North America) ...

for ''

NBA on NBC Television broadcasts of the National Basketball Association (NBA) games produced by NBC Sports has aired on American broadcast network NBC under the ''NBA on NBC'' branding throughout three incarnations in its history. The NBA was first telev ...

'' broadcasts during the 1990s and was a color commentator for the

Cleveland Cavaliers The Cleveland Cavaliers, often referred to as the Cavs, are an American professional basketball team based in Cleveland. The Cavaliers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Divis ...

for ''

Fox Sports Ohio FanDuel Sports Network Ohio (formerly Bally Sports Ohio) is an American regional sports network owned by Main Street Sports Group (formerly Diamond Sports Group) as part of the FanDuel Sports Network chain. The channel broadcasts regional cove ...

'' cable channel for a number of years in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

Career playing statistics

NBA

Source

Regular season

{, class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size:95%; text-align:right;" , - ! Year ! Team ! GP ! GS ! MPG ! FG% ! FT% ! RPG ! APG ! SPG ! BPG ! PPG , - , style="text-align:left;background:#afe6ba;", † , style="text-align:left;",

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, 69 , , , , 11.7 , , .389 , , .605 , , 1.2 , , 1.5 , , , , , , 3.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 82 , , , , 19.7 , , .483 , , .776 , , 2.3 , , 2.3 , , , , , , 6.1 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 72 , , , , 11.6 , , .426 , , .667 , , 1.3 , , 1.4 , , , , , , 3.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 80 , , , , 19.5 , , .454 , , .711 , , 2.7 , , 2.8 , , , , , , 6.1 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 1 , , 0 , , 5.0 , , – , , – , , 1.0 , , .0 , , , , , , .0 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, 78 , , 35 , , 28.3 , , .493 , , .732 , , 2.0 , , 4.4 , , , , , , 6.6 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

, 61 , , , , 32.4 , , .496 , , .771 , , 2.3 , , 5.3 , , , , , , 7.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", Kansas City–Omaha , 79 , , , , 36.0 , , .570 , , .822 , , 3.1 , , 5.1 , , , , , , 9.1 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", Kansas City–Omaha , 9 , , , , 35.0 , , .494 , , .667 , , 2.3 , , 4.0 , , .9 , , .1 , , 10.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

, 39 , , , , 25.8 , , .458 , , .750 , , 1.5 , , 3.4 , , .7 , , .4 , , 5.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", Buffalo , 27 , , , , 20.3 , , .555 , , .500 , , 1.5 , , 2.6 , , .7 , , .2 , , 4.9 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 82 , , 12 , , 25.5 , , .510 , , .757 , , 1.7 , , 2.2 , , .5 , , .2 , , 7.2 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 18 , , 0 , , 15.4 , , .486 , , .818 , , .9 , , 1.6 , , .3 , , .1 , , 4.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more t ...

, 38 , , , , 13.6 , , .374 , , .563 , , 1.2 , , 1.1 , , .3 , , .1 , , 2.2 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 735 , , 47 , , 22.6 , , .489 , , .727 , , 2.0 , , 3.0 , , .5 , , .2 , , 5.8

Playoffs

{, class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size:95%; text-align:right;" , - ! Year ! Team ! GP ! MPG ! FG% ! FT% ! RPG ! APG ! SPG ! BPG ! PPG , - , style="text-align:left;background:#afe6ba;",

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Canadian Confederation, Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 6 – Vietnam War: United States Marine Corps and Army of ...

† , style="text-align:left;",

, style="background:#cfecec;", 15* , , 16.8 , , .406 , , .765 , , 2.0 , , 1.5 , , , , , , 4.3 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1968 Events January–February * January 1968, January – The I'm Backing Britain, I'm Backing Britain campaign starts spontaneously. * January 5 – Prague Spring: Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Cze ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, 13 , , 25.2 , , .380 , , .741 , , 3.3 , , 2.3 , , , , , , 6.2 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1969 1969 ( MCMLXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1969th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 969th year of the 2nd millennium, the 69th year of the 20th century, and the ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, 5 , , 20.0 , , .407 , , .800 , , 2.4 , , 1.6 , , , , , , 5.2 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 1970 Tonghai earthquake, Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, 2 , , 11.5 , , .750 , , 1.000 , , 1.5 , , .5 , , , , , , 6.5 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses (Solar eclipse of February 25, 1971, February 25, Solar eclipse of July 22, 1971, July 22 and Solar eclipse of August 20, 1971, August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 1971 lunar eclip ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, 6 , , 13.8 , , .571 , , .800 , , 1.3 , , 2.0 , , , , , , 3.3 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; ...

, style="text-align:left;", Buffalo , 6 , , 14.2 , , .533 , , .750 , , 1.3 , , 2.2 , , .0 , , .2 , , 3.2 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 – Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, 13 , , 15.5 , , .343 , , .875 , , 1.1 , , .8 , , .5 , , .1 , , 2.4 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 60 , , 17.9 , , .417 , , .776 , , 2.0 , , 1.6 , , .4 , , .1 , , 4.2

Head coaching record

, - , style="text-align:left;",

, style="text-align:left;", , 82, , 54, , 28, , , , style="text-align:center;", 2nd in

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for se ...

, , 12, , 6, , 6, , , style="text-align:center;", Lost in Conference semifinals , - , style="text-align:left;",

, style="text-align:left;", , 82, , 45, , 37, , , , style="text-align:center;", 2nd in Atlantic, , 5, , 2, , 3, , , style="text-align:center;", Lost in

First round First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

, - , style="text-align:left;",

, style="text-align:left;", , 43, , 20, , 23, , , , style="text-align:center;", (fired), , —, , —, , —, , — , style="text-align:center;", — , - , style="text-align:left;",

Orlando Orlando commonly refers to: * Orlando, Florida, a city in the United States Orlando may also refer to: People * Orlando (given name), a masculine name, includes a list of people with the name * Orlando (surname), includes a list of people wit ...

, style="text-align:left;", , 82, , 18, , 64, , , , style="text-align:center;", 7th in Central, , —, , —, , —, , — , style="text-align:center;", Missed playoffs , - , style="text-align:left;",

, style="text-align:left;", , 82, , 31, , 51, , , , style="text-align:center;", 4th in

Midwest The Midwestern United States (also referred to as the Midwest, the Heartland or the American Midwest) is one of the four census regions defined by the United States Census Bureau. It occupies the northern central part of the United States. It ...

, , —, , —, , —, , — , style="text-align:center;", Missed playoffs , - , style="text-align:left;",

, style="text-align:left;", , 82, , 21, , 61, , , , style="text-align:center;", 7th in Atlantic, , —, , —, , —, , — , style="text-align:center;", Missed playoffs , - , style="text-align:left;",

, style="text-align:left;", , 82, , 41, , 41, , , , style="text-align:center;", 4th in Atlantic, , —, , —, , —, , — , style="text-align:center;", Missed playoffs , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 535, , 230, , 305, , , , , , 17, , 8, , 9, , , ,

Personal life

Guokas's father (Matt Sr.), uncle (Al), and son (Matt III) have all played for

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Guokas, Matt 1944 births Living people All-American college men's basketball players American men's basketball players American people of Lithuanian descent Basketball coaches from Pennsylvania Basketball players from Philadelphia Buffalo Braves players Chicago Bulls players Cincinnati Royals players College basketball announcers in the United States Houston Rockets players Kansas City Kings players NBA broadcasters Orlando Magic head coaches Philadelphia 76ers assistant coaches Philadelphia 76ers draft picks Philadelphia 76ers head coaches Philadelphia 76ers players Saint Joseph's Hawks men's basketball players Shooting guards Small forwards St. Joseph's Preparatory School alumni 20th-century American sportsmen