_(cropped).jpg) Cleaves with theSeattle SuperSonics in 2006 | |||||||||||||||
| Phoenix Suns | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Title | Assistant coach | ||||||||||||||
| League | NBA | ||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
| Born | (1977-09-03)September 3, 1977 (age 48) Flint, Michigan, U.S. | ||||||||||||||
| Listed height | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | ||||||||||||||
| Listed weight | 205 lb (93 kg) | ||||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||||
| High school | Flint Northern (Flint, Michigan) | ||||||||||||||
| College | Michigan State (1996–2000) | ||||||||||||||
| NBA draft | 2000: 1st round, 14th overall pick | ||||||||||||||
| Drafted by | Detroit Pistons | ||||||||||||||
| Playing career | 2000–2009 | ||||||||||||||
| Position | Point guard | ||||||||||||||
| Number | 24, 8 | ||||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||||
Playing | |||||||||||||||
| 2000–2001 | Detroit Pistons | ||||||||||||||
| 2001–2003 | Sacramento Kings | ||||||||||||||
| 2003–2004 | Huntsville Flight | ||||||||||||||
| 2004 | Cleveland Cavaliers | ||||||||||||||
| 2004 | Huntsville Flight | ||||||||||||||
| 2004–2006 | Seattle SuperSonics | ||||||||||||||
| 2006 | Fayetteville Patriots | ||||||||||||||
| 2006–2007 | UNICS Kazan | ||||||||||||||
| 2007 | Bakersfield Jam | ||||||||||||||
| 2007–2008 | Panionios | ||||||||||||||
| 2008–2009 | Bakersfield Jam | ||||||||||||||
Coaching | |||||||||||||||
| 2025–present | Phoenix Suns (assistant) | ||||||||||||||
| Career highlights | |||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||
Stats at NBA.com  | |||||||||||||||
| Stats atBasketball Reference | |||||||||||||||
Medals
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Mateen Ahmad Cleaves (born September 7, 1977) is an American former professionalbasketball player who currently serves as an assistantcoach for thePhoenix Suns of theNational Basketball Association (NBA). He played parts of six seasons in the NBA. He was anAll-American college player forMichigan State, where he led the Spartans to a national championship in2000. He has also worked as a studio analyst for Fox Sports.
Cleaves was a heavily recruited high school athlete. TheMichigan Wolverines men's basketball program took Cleaves on a recruiting trip 40 miles from Ann Arbor's campus which ignited the start of themajor scandal. Cleaves and current players were passengers in a rollover accident leaving a party in Detroit with strippers, alcohol, and drugs that also included a stop at the home of Eddie L. "Ed" Martin.[1][2] Martin's involvement in the party while being a Michigan booster and the distance from campus triggered an NCAA investigation leading tomajor sanctions against the Wolverines' basketball program. Cleaves eventually agreed to attend Michigan State University, the University of Michigan's in-staterival. He is one of the four MSU players fromFlint, Michigan, dubbed "The Flintstones".
Cleaves, a three-time Michigan State captain, led the Spartans to the2000 national championship, and was namedMost Outstanding Player of the Final Four.[3][4]
The school's only three-timeAll-American, Cleaves was namedBig Ten Player of the Year twice. He led MSU and the conference in careerassists with 816, and is Michigan State's all-timesteals leader (193). In his final home game on senior night inEast Lansing, Cleaves dished out 20 assists, breaking the Big Ten single-game and career assist marks.
On February 3, 2007, Cleaves became the eighth MSU player to have his number retired.[5]
In 2000, Cleaves was selected 14th overall in the2000 NBA draft by theDetroit Pistons. During the2000–01 season, he played in 78 games, averaging 5.4 points and 2.7 assists.
Cleaves was traded to theSacramento Kings shortly before the 2001–02 season forJon Barry and a first-round draft pick. After two seasons playing sparingly, he signed as afree agent with theBoston Celtics,[6] but was waived before the2003–04 season. He played with theCleveland Cavaliers in four games. He was then signed by theSeattle SuperSonics, was cut during the2004–05 season, and re-signed during the following season.
In total, Cleaves played 167 NBA games, starting in 10 of them and had career averages of 3.6 points, 2 assists and 1 rebound a game. His final NBA game was played on February 14, 2006, in a 91 - 106 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks. In that game Cleaves recorded 2 points and 3 assists.
Following his NBA stint, Cleaves appeared for theFayetteville Patriots and theBakersfield Jam of theD-League, also playing abroad with Russia'sUnics Kazan and Greece'sPanionios BC. In 2008, he played with theDenver Nuggets in their pre-season, but was waived before the October 29 tip-off.[7]
| GP | Games played | GS | Games started | MPG | Minutes per game |
| FG% | Field goal percentage | 3P% | 3-point field goal percentage | FT% | Free throw percentage |
| RPG | Rebounds per game | APG | Assists per game | SPG | Steals per game |
| BPG | Blocks per game | PPG | Points per game | Bold | Career high |
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000–01 | Detroit | 78 | 8 | 16.3 | .400 | .294 | .708 | 1.7 | 2.7 | .6 | .0 | 5.4 |
| 2001–02 | Sacramento | 32 | 0 | 4.8 | .441 | .250 | .889 | .3 | .8 | .2 | .0 | 2.2 |
| 2002–03 | Sacramento | 12 | 0 | 4.6 | .261 | 1.000 | .750 | .7 | .8 | .2 | .0 | 1.3 |
| 2003–04 | Cleveland | 4 | 2 | 23.0 | .304 | .000 | .500 | 1.8 | 4.8 | 1.0 | .5 | 3.8 |
| 2004–05 | Seattle | 14 | 0 | 4.6 | .357 | .000 | .750 | .4 | .5 | .1 | .0 | .9 |
| 2005–06 | Seattle | 27 | 0 | 8.5 | .352 | .250 | .792 | .5 | 1.6 | .1 | .1 | 2.7 |
| Career | 167 | 10 | 11.2 | .389 | .267 | .728 | 1.0 | 1.9 | .4 | .0 | 3.6 | |
On March 14, 2010, it was announced that Cleaves had joinedFox Sports Detroit as aDetroit Pistons studio analyst.[8] In addition Cleaves has branched out into music as an owner of the record label All Varsity Entertainment, featuringJon Connor.[9]
Cleaves joinedUnited Wholesale Mortgage and former teammateMat Ishbia in 2019 as a leadership development coach. In 2021 he was promoted to leader of the leadership development team and is famous in the company for his "Mateen's Motivational Tuesday" posts.
On July 10, 2025, thePhoenix Suns hired Cleaves as part of their coaching staff under head coachJordan Ott.[10]
In 1998, while at Michigan State, Cleaves ran afoul of the law twice, both cases involving alcohol. One night, Cleaves took a beer from a7-Eleven while the clerk was in the bathroom, leaving money on the counter. Cleaves was underage at the time and the incident occurred after legal alcohol selling hours. He was benched for half a game, fined, and ordered to perform community service.[11] Later that year, Cleaves and fellow playerAndre Hutson were arrested after being caught driving a car while drinking. Hutson, the driver, had a 0.02 BAC, under legal intoxication levels, but Hutson was underage and charged under Michigan's "zero tolerance" policy regarding alcohol and minors. Cleaves was charged with being a minor in possession of alcohol, refusing a breath test, and not wearing his seat belt.[12]
In October 2015, Cleaves was investigated for his role in an allegedsexual assault. Cleaves was accused of taking a 24-year-old woman to a motel inMundy Township, on September 15, 2015, keeping her against her will and sexually assaulting her.[13] He was released on a $150,000 personal bond. The case was handled byWayne County becauseGenesee County Prosecutor David Leyton had a conflict of interest.[14][15]
On December 5, 2016, after reviewing surveillance video and the alleged victim's testimony, all charges against Cleaves were dismissed by District Court Judge M. Cathy Dowd. Prosecutors promptly appealed. On April 10, 2017, Genesee Circuit Court Judge Archie L. Hayman ruled that District Court Judge M. Cathy Dowd abused her discretion in finding no probable cause that Cleaves committed a crime, remanding the case to district court and ordering it bound over for a jury trial. On May 16, 2017, Cleaves' attorneys appealed the decision to theMichigan Court of Appeals, arguing that Judge Hayman "ignored the evidence of the case."[16] On August 1, 2017, it was announced three Michigan Court of Appeals judges denied Cleaves' request to review a judge's decision to reinstate sexual assault charges against him.[17] On January 4, 2018, it was announced that theMichigan Supreme Court declined to review a judge's decision to reinstate sexual assault charges against Cleaves. In August 2019, the case returned to county court for trial,[18] and on August 20, 2019, Cleaves wasacquitted of all charges. A video published on the Internet shows the woman attempting to resist him as he pulls her back to the hotel room. Cleaves attorney Frank J. Manley released a statement saying that Cleaves was doing the right thing by pulling a naked woman back into the hotel room and allowed her to leave when fully dressed. Manley also stated that Cleaves' case was dismissed previously by a female judge who heard all the evidence and he was acquitted by a jury which included nine female jurors out of 12.[19]
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