Athletes - Maurice Lucas

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	Athletes - Maurice Lucas

Maurice "the Enforcer" Lucas (born February 18 1952 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) is an American former professional basketball player, and current assistant coach with the National Basketball Association's Portland Trail Blazers.

Lucas played college basketball at Marquette University for two years, leading them to the NCAA championship game in 1974. Although Marquette did not win the title, Lucas played the full 40 minutes of the game, leading his team with 21 points and 13 rebounds.

In 1974 he was selected by the Chicago Bulls with the 14th pick of that year's NBA Draft. Despite this, he instead joined the American Basketball Association's Spirits of St. Louis where he was named to the 1974-75 ABA All-Rookie 2nd team. Part way through his second season with the Spirits, Lucas was traded to the Kentucky Colonels and remained with them until the league folded and merged with the NBA in 1976. Lucas was an ABA All-Star for the 1975-76 season.

Lucas would be selected by the Portland Trail Blazers in the subsequent dispersal draft. They had traded Geoff Petrie and Steve Hawes to the Atlanta Hawks for the 2nd overall pick, which they used to select Lucas. In the 1976-77 NBA season, Lucas led the Trail Blazers in scoring, minutes played, field goals, free throws, and offensive rebounds. Not only did the team qualify for their first trip to the playoffs that season, but Lucas and teammate Bill Walton led the Trail Blazers past the favored Los Angeles Lakers, sweeping them 4-0 in the Western Conference Finals, and stunning the league in a come-from-behind 4-2 upset victory over the Philadelphia 76ers for the championship. Lucas remained with Portland until 1980 when he was traded to the New Jersey Nets.

Lucas moved around the league, playing for the New York Knicks, Phoenix Suns, Los Angeles Lakers, and Seattle SuperSonics before returning to Portland for his final professional season in 1987-88. In his 14 year career (2 in the ABA, 12 in the NBA), Lucas scored 14,857 points, 9,306 rebounds (59th NBA career leader overall), and was a 5 time All-Star (1 ABA, 4 NBA). He was named to the 1978 All-NBA-Defense First team, the 1978 All-NBA Second team, and the 1979 All-NBA-Defense Second team. The Trail Blazers retired his jersey number, 20, in a ceremony on 4 November 1988. Lucas also served the team as an assistant coach under Mike Schuler and Rick Adelman during the 1988-89 season.

In 2005, Lucas rejoined the Trail Blazers as an assistant coach under Nate McMillan.

Luke Walton, son of Lucas' Portland teammate Bill Walton, is named after him.

Honors

ABA All-Star (1976)
4-time NBA All-Star (1977, '78, '79, '83)
1 NBA Championship (1977)
All-NBA Second Team (1978)
All-NBA-Defense First Team (1978)
All-NBA-Defense Second Team (1979)
Named one of the (1997)

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