Maurice Lucas

College

Lucas played college basketball for head coach Al McGuire with the then-Marquette Warriors for two years, leading them to the NCAA championship game in 1974. In the national semifinal game, Lucas led Marquette to a 64–51 victory over Kansas with game leading totals of 18 points, 14 rebounds, and 4 blocks. Marquette lost the title game to North Carolina State 76–64, while Lucas played the full 40 minutes of the game, leading his team with both 21 points and 13 rebounds.

ABA

In 1973, the Carolina Cougars of the American Basketball Association (ABA) obtained the rights to Lucas in the first round of the ABA draft. In 1974, Lucas was also selected by the Chicago Bulls of the National Basketball Association (NBA) with the 14th pick of the NBA draft.

Lucas started his career off the bench but soon developed into a tough power forward. This became apparent early in his rookie season when during a game trading elbows with Artis Gilmore (who outsized him at 7'2 and 240 pounds), the two got into a skirmish where Gilmore wanted to punch Lucas. He missed and Lucas, who had backed up into the corner of the court, planted his feet and punched Gilmore right on the jaw that saw him go down.

During his first season, Lucas averaged 13.2 points per game, and 10 rebounds per game, and was chosen for the 1974–75 ABA All-Rookie second team. In the 1975 ABA Playoffs, Lucas averaged 16.3 points, 14.7 rebounds, and 5 assists per game, as the Spirits advanced past the New York Nets in the first round with a 4–1 series victory before losing to the eventual champion Kentucky Colonels in the Eastern Division Finals.

On December 17, 1975, part way through his second season with the Spirits, Lucas was traded to the Kentucky Colonels in exchange for Caldwell Jones. Lucas was an ABA All-Star for the 1975–76 season, and averaged 17.0 points and 11.3 rebounds per game. Lucas remained with the Colonels through their loss in the semifinals of the 1976 ABA Playoffs to the Denver Nuggets and through the ABA–NBA merger in 1976.

NBA

After the ABA–NBA merger, Lucas was selected by the Portland Trail Blazers in the subsequent ABA Dispersal Draft in which the Kentucky Colonels and Spirits of St. Louis players were selected by NBA teams. Portland had traded Geoff Petrie and Steve Hawes to the Atlanta Hawks for the second 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 a surprising come-from-behind 4–2 upset victory over the Philadelphia 76ers in the 1977 NBA Finals.

In that NBA Finals series, Lucas asserted his "enforcer" role in Game 2. With the 76ers comfortably ahead late in the game, the Blazers streaked down the floor on a fast break. Lionel Hollins missed the shot, both Bob Gross and Darryl Dawkins went up and wrestled for the rebound, and both came crashing to the floor. As Dawkins ran up court, he threw a punch that largely missed Gross, nailing his own teammate Doug Collins instead. As Dawkins reached mid-court, Lucas greeted him with an elbow to the head, after which they briefly squared off. Both benches emptied and Dawkins and Lucas were ejected. Although the 76ers would go on to win the game and go up 2–0 in the series, Lucas' actions appeared to alter the momentum of the series in favor of the Blazers. Inspired, Portland won the next two games at home in blowouts, then won at Philadelphia, and closed out the 76ers at home to win the series. Sports Illustrated featured Lucas on their cover for their 1977–78 NBA preview issue, spotlighting enforcers throughout the league. He remained with Portland until 1980 when he was traded to the New Jersey Nets in exchange for Calvin Natt. On February 13, 1981, Lucas set a career high with 6 blocks, while also scoring 31 points and grabbing 13 rebounds, during a 103–100 New Jersey win over the Indiana Pacers.

After a year with the Nets, Lucas was traded to the New York Knicks for Ray Williams. In 1982, he was dealt to the Phoenix Suns for Truck Robinson. In Phoenix, Lucas helped an injury-plagued Suns team reach the Western Conference Finals in 1984. Ironically, Lucas would sign with the team Phoenix lost to in 1984, the Los Angeles Lakers, following the 1985 season. On December 4, 1985, Lucas made a 60-foot shot at the regulation buzzer to send the game into overtime. The Lakers would go on to defeat the Utah Jazz 131–127. After the Lakers lost the 1986 Western Conference Finals to the Houston Rockets, Lucas moved to the Seattle SuperSonics for one year, before returning to the Trail Blazers for his final NBA season in 1988.

In his fourteen-year professional basketball career – two in the ABA and 12 in the NBA – Lucas scored 14,857 points and gathered 9,306 rebounds in 1021 games. He was a five-time All-Star – one in the ABA and four in the 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.

Post-playing career

Lucas was hired by the Portland Trail Blazers 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.

Maurice Lucas Foundation

Established in 2010, the Maurice Lucas Foundation supports children's health and youth programs. The foundation creates a range of opportunities for middle school, high school and post-high school students by offering school programs, learning experiences, and sporting activities.

Personal life

Lucas had three children: Maurice Lucas II, David Lucas, and Kristin Lucas. His son David played basketball for Oregon State University from 2001 to 2005, and professionally in China, Poland, and Portugal.

Lucas was a Catholic chaplain at the MacLaren Youth Correctional Facility and was the founder and executive director of the Maurice Lucas Foundation.

In April 2009, Lucas underwent surgery for bladder cancer. With his health continuing to be a concern, Lucas resigned his coaching position following the 2009–2010 season.{{cite news|url=https://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hdAKcw14mbIiXvkORM7k2-eYOtBgD9GIGU9G1|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100629174305/http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hdAKcw14mbIiXvkORM7k2-eYOtBgD9GIGU9G1|url-status=dead|archive-date=June 29, 2010|title=With GM drama finally over, Blazers move on|last=Peterson

Lucas died at his home in Portland, Oregon, on October 31, 2010. Services were also held in his childhood home town, Pittsburgh. The Blazers honored him by wearing No. 20 patches on their jerseys for the 2010–2011 season.

Legacy

On November 4, 1988, the Portland Trail Blazers retired his jersey number, 20.

On August 23, 1997, at the ABA's 30 Year Reunion celebration, Lucas was named to the All-Time All-ABA Team along with Hall of Fame members Julius Erving, Dan Issel, George Gervin, Rick Barry, Connie Hawkins and other ABA greats.

Former NBA player and current Detroit Pistons assistant coach Luke Walton, son of Lucas' Portland teammate and Hall of Famer Bill Walton, is named after him.

References

References

1. Heisler, Mark. (November 2, 2010). "Maurice Lucas dies at 58; menacing power forward in the NBA". [[The Los Angeles Times]].
2. [https://ml20.org/about-us/history/ History.] Maurice Lucas Foundation. Retrieved May 16, 2025.
3. "Marquette vs. Kansas Box Score, March 23, 1974".
4. {{usurped
5. link. (May 9, 2013)
6. Pluto, Terry. (1990). "Loose Balls". Simon & Schuster.
7. "1974-75 Spirits of St. Louis Roster and Stats".
8. (February 2022). ["Lucas vs Dawkins Fight"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9lHM6h40Zo}}{{cbignore}}{{Dead YouTube link).
9. "Maurice Lucas Career High 6 Blocks".
10. . (December 5, 1985). "60-foot shot sets up Lakers' win, 131-127". *[[USA Today]]*.
11. [http://www.nba.com/blazers/news/Trail_Blazers_Add_to_Coaching_-147848-41.html Trail Blazers Announce Maurice Lucas to Join McMillan's Coaching Staff], August 1, 2005
12. [https://ml20.org/about-us/our-mission/ Our Mission.] Maurice Lucas Foundation. Retrieved May 16, 2025.
13. [https://osubeavers.com/sports/2011/11/2/208331476 Oregon State Player Summaries for 2004-2005; 2003-2004; 2002-2003; 2001-2002 -- sports_m-baskbl_mtt_david_lucas_69875.] Oregon State University. Retrieved May 16, 2025.
14. (2010-11-06). "Remembering Maurice Lucas".
15. "Leadership".
16. (April 2, 2009). "Lucas Undergoes Cancer Surgery". SI.com.
17. Goldstein, Richard. (November 1, 2010). "Maurice Lucas, Bruising Forward for Trail Blazers, Dies at 58". [[The New York Times]].
18. Barcousky, Len. (November 20, 2010). "Maurice Lucas stands tall in mourners' minds". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
19. Khan, David. (November 5, 1988). "Blazers Pay Tribute to Prodigal Son". The Oregonian.
20. [http://www.remembertheaba.com/ABAGeneralInfo/30YearTeam.html 30 Year ABA All-Time Team page at RememberTheABA.com] {{webarchive. link. (May 17, 2008)
21. "LOS ANGELES LAKERS PLAYERS – Luke Walton".