| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1933-06-17)June 17, 1933 Rankin, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Died | April 6, 1970(1970-04-06) (aged 36) Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S. |
| Listed height | 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) |
| Listed weight | 232 lb (105 kg) |
| Career information | |
| High school | Westinghouse (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) |
| College | Saint Francis (PA) (1951–1955) |
| NBA draft | 1955: 1st round, 2nd overall pick |
| Drafted by | Rochester Royals |
| Playing career | 1955–1958 |
| Position | Power forward /center |
| Number | 12 |
| Career history | |
| 1955–1958 | Rochester / Cincinnati Royals |
| Career highlights | |
| |
| Career statistics | |
| Points | 3,315 (16.4 ppg) |
| Rebounds | 3,492 (17.3 rpg) |
| Assists | 1,062 (5.3 apg) |
Stats at NBA.com  | |
| Stats atBasketball Reference | |
| Basketball Hall of Fame | |
| Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame | |
Maurice Stokes (June 17, 1933 – April 6, 1970) was an American professionalbasketball player. He played for theCincinnati/Rochester Royals of theNational Basketball Association (NBA) from 1955 to 1958. Stokes was a three-timeNBA All-Star, a three-timeAll-NBA Second Team member and the 1956NBA Rookie of the Year. His career – and later his life – was cut short by a debilitating brain injury and paralysis.[1][2]
Stokes is a namesake of the NBA'sTwyman–Stokes Teammate of the Year Award alongsideJack Twyman, who served as Stokes's legal guardian during the final years of his life. Stokes was inducted into theNaismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2004.
Born inRankin, Pennsylvania, nearPittsburgh, Stokes was one of four children — he had a twin sister and two brothers. His father worked in a steel mill and his mother was a domestic.[3] When Maurice was age eight, the family moved to nearby Homewood, where he later attendedWestinghouse High School. Stokes did not start his first two years at Westinghouse, but, in his last two years, he helped lead the Bulldogs to back-to-back city championships[4][5] in 1950 and 1951.[3]
Stokes graduated fromSaint Francis College inLoretto, Pennsylvania, where he led theRed Flash to theNational Invitation Tournament (NIT) in1955 and was named Most Valuable Player, although his team finished fourth in the tournament.[6][7] In his first college season, Stokes averaged 23.1 points and 26.5 rebounds per game. In the following season, he averaged 27.1 points and 26.2 rebounds per game. Stokes remains St. Francis's all-time leading rebounder with 1,819 and is second in scoring with 2,282 points. The Red Flash were 79-30 during Stokes's four seasons. He later was inducted into the St. Francis University Athletic Hall of Fame.[4]
Selected second overall in the1955 NBA draft by theRochester Royals, Stokes averaged 16.3 rebounds per game during hisrookie season and was namedNBA Rookie of the Year. Thenext season, he set a league record for most rebounds in a single season with 1,256 (17.4 per game). The Royals relocated toCincinnati in1957 and Stokes was second in the NBA in rebounds and third in assists in1957–58; a feat onlyWilt Chamberlain andNikola Jokic have matched for a full season.
During his three seasons in the NBA (1955–58), he grabbed more rebounds than any other player with 3,492 (Bob Pettit was second with 3,417) and also amassed 1,062 assists, which was second in the NBA only to Boston Celtics' point guardBob Cousy (1,583). Stokes was named anAll-Star andAll-NBA Second Team for all three seasons of his career. He was inducted into theNaismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in September 2004.[8]
Stokes is one of eight NBA players who have recorded four consecutive triple-doubles.[citation needed]
On March 12, 1958, in the last game of the regular season, Stokes was knocked unconscious after he drove to the basket, drew contact, and struck his head as he fell to the court. He was revived with smelling salts and returned to the game. Three days later, after recording 12 points and 15 rebounds in an opening-round playoff game against theDetroit Pistons, he became ill on the team's flight back to Cincinnati and lapsed intounconsciousness.[9] Stokes later suffered a seizure and was left permanently paralyzed. He was diagnosed with post-traumaticencephalopathy, a brain injury that damaged his motor-control center.[10][11]
During the years that followed, Stokes would be supported and cared for by his lifelong friend and teammate,Jack Twyman, who became Stokes's legal guardian.[12] Although permanently paralyzed, Stokes was mentally alert and communicated by blinking his eyes. He adopted a grueling physical therapy regimen that eventually allowed him limited physical movement, and he eventually regained limited speaking ability. Stokes's condition deteriorated through the 1960s, and he was later transferred to Good Samaritan Hospital in Cincinnati, where Twyman continued to be a regular visitor.[3]
Twelve years after his injury, Stokes died at age 36 from aheart attack on April 6, 1970,[1][2] and received a series ofCatholic funerals.[13]
At his own request, he was buried in Franciscan Friar Cemetery on the campus of Saint Francis in Loretto.
After Jack Twyman became Stokes's legal guardian, Twyman organized a charity exhibition basketball game in 1958 to help raise funds for Stokes's medical expenses. That game, spearheaded by Milton Kutsher,[11] became an annual tradition and was named the Maurice Stokes Memorial Basketball Game.[12][14] It was later changed to the Maurice Stokes/Wilt Chamberlain Celebrity Pro-Am Golf Tournament[15][16] due to NBA and insurance company restrictions regarding athletes.[17]
Stokes's life, injury, and relationship with Twyman are all depicted in the 1973National General Pictures filmMaurie.
On June 9, 2013, theNBA announced that both Stokes and Jack Twyman would be honored with an annual award in their names, theTwyman–Stokes Teammate of the Year Award, which recognizes the player that embodies the league's ideal teammate that season.[18][19][20]
The Maurice Stokes Athletics Center (originally called the Maurice Stokes Physical Education Building when it opened in 1971) on the St. Francis University campus is named after him.
| 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 |
| * | Led the league |
| Year | Team | GP | MPG | FG% | FT% | RPG | APG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1955–56 | Rochester | 67 | 34.7 | .354 | .714 | 16.3* | 4.7 | 16.8 |
| 1956–57 | Rochester | 72 | 38.3 | .347 | .665 | 17.4 | 4.6 | 15.6 |
| 1957–58 | Cincinnati | 63 | 39.0 | .351 | .715 | 18.1 | 6.4 | 16.9 |
| Career | 202 | 37.3 | .351 | .698 | 17.3 | 5.3 | 16.4 | |
| All-Star | 3 | 29.0 | .349 | .600 | 14.0 | 4.0 | 13.0 | |
| Year | Team | GP | MPG | FG% | FT% | RPG | APG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1958 | Cincinnati | 1 | 39.0 | .250 | .857 | 15.0 | 2.0 | 12.0 |
| Career | 1 | 39.0 | .250 | .857 | 15.0 | 2.0 | 12.0 | |
The Stokes Teams were the first two Saint Francis men's basketball teams to play in the National Invitation Tournament, which was then the most prestigious tournament in college basketball, at world-renowned Madison Square Garden. The Stokes Teams put "The College Among The Pines" on the national map with two of the most amazing small-school seasons in collegiate basketball history.
Farabaugh, Pat.An Unbreakable Bond: The Brotherhood of Maurice Stokes and Jack Twyman, Haworth, N.J.: St. Johann Press, 2014.
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