Maurice Stokes

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Maurice Stokes (born June 17, 1933 in Rankin , Pennsylvania , † April 6, 1970 in Cincinnati , Ohio ) was an American basketball player . Between 1955 and 1958 he played in the NBA for the Rochester Royals / Cincinnati Royals team . In his first season he was named Rookie of the Year . Stokes was six feet tall and played in the power forward position . He set a record for rebounds in the 1956/57 season (1,256), which was outbid two years later by Bill Russell .

Stokes combined strength and speed with outstanding athleticism and was thus the prototype of later power forwards, from Spencer Haywood to Karl Malone to Kevin Garnett . In the last game of the 1957/58 season, Stokes fell unfavorably on the parquet floor and lost consciousness. He was treated with smelling salts, continued to play and, apparently unharmed, became the best basket hunter of the game. For the following first round game of the play-offs , Stokes was also set up, but suffered a breakdown on the return flight after this game, which was due to a brain swelling due to cabin pressure. Stokes fell into a coma and remained paralyzed . A teammate and close friend of Stokes, Jack Twyman , set up a foundation and thus collected over 300,000 dollars for Stokes' medical treatment. Stokes died of a heart attack in 1970 .

Three years later, the film Maurie (alternatively Big Mo ) about the fate of Stokes, directed by Daniel Mann, with Bernie Casey and Bo Svenson in the leading roles.

The Twyman-Stokes Teammate of the Year Award , which has been presented since the 2012/13 season , is named after both players . Despite his short career, Stokes was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame on September 10, 2004 .

See also

Web links

  • Maurie (1973) in the Internet Movie Database . On: IMDB website; Seattle, WA, 1990-2018. Retrieved August 25, 2018 (in English).
  • Maurice Stokes in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame . On: Hoophall website; Springfield, MA, 2018. Retrieved April 20, 2018 (in English).
  • Maurice Stokes in the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame. On: The College Basketball Experience — website; Kansas City, MO, 2006-2019. Retrieved March 14, 2019 (in English).
  • Maurice Stokes on: RealGM website; Marion, IL, 2000-2019. Retrieved March 14, 2019 (in English).
  • Maurice Stokes at: Sports Reference website; Philadelphia, PA, 2000-2019. Retrieved March 14, 2019 (in English).
  • Maurice Stokes at: Basketball Reference website; Philadelphia, PA, 2000-2019. Retrieved March 14, 2019 (in English).
  • Maurice Stokes at: National Basketball Association website; New York City, NY, 2019. Retrieved March 14, 2019.

Individual evidence

  1. NN:  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives: Title allegedly: sportshollywood.com. (Note: "Mature performance, Mr. Brain!") ) On: Sports Hollywood website; without specifying the place or the date. Last reached on December 28, 2011 (in English).@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.sportshollywood.com
  2. ^ Bob Carter: Stokes' life a tale of tragedy and friendship. On: Entertainment and Sports Programming Network website; Burbank, CA, undated. Retrieved March 14, 2019 (in English).