Maurice Cheeks was fired Wednesday as coach of the Portland Trail Blazers, who have dropped seven of nine games and are in danger of missing the playoffs for the second straight year.
Kevin Pritchard, the team's director of player personnel, was appointed interim head coach, general manager John Nash said at a news conference.
Cheeks, near the end of a four-year contract estimated at $12 million, was popular among the players and fans. But when the losses mounted this season, he was believed to be on the way out.
Portland's latest defeat came Tuesday night, 103-93 to the defending champion Detroit Pistons. The Blazers (22-33) are in 12th place in the Western Conference, six games behind the Los Angeles Lakers for the eighth and final playoff spot. They went 41-41 last season, missing the playoffs for the first time in 22 years.
Cheeks leaves the Blazers with a 162-139 career record. A phone call to his home Tuesday morning went unanswered.
Cheeks, who played in the NBA for 15 seasons, was hired by Portland in 2001 to replace Mike Dunleavy, who was also fired. Pritchard was hired by the Blazers in August after working as a scout for the San Antonio Spurs.
Wednesday, March 02, 2005
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