[11] By his fifth year in the league, he was selected to his first All-Star appearance, starting the game,[16] and had averaged 12.5 points, 6.9 assists, and 2.3 steals for the 1982–83 season.

[18] He would be an integral part of the 76ers for the rest of his time in Philadelphia, however the 76ers failed to repeat the level of success that they reached in the 1982–83 season.

Cheeks played one more season for the 76ers; they were back in the playoffs but got swept in the first round by the New York Knicks.

[24] In the 1989 off-season the Philadelphia 76ers traded Maurice Cheeks, Chris Welp, and David Wingate to the San Antonio Spurs for Johnny Dawkins and Jay Vincent.

[8] At 33 years old, Cheeks was aging and in the twilight of his career but he still played well for the Spurs and averaged 10.9 points for his time in San Antonio.

[27] In the 1991 off-season the New York Knicks traded Cheeks to the Atlanta Hawks for Tim McCormick and a 1994 first round draft pick (which later became Charlie Ward).

[8] Cheeks' points average dropped drastically to 4.6[8] and he was no longer a starting calibre player.

[37] On April 25, 2003, during a game between the Trail Blazers and the Dallas Mavericks, Cheeks famously aided 13-year-old Natalie Gilbert in singing the American national anthem.

After Gilbert forgot the words at "At the twilight's last gleaming", Cheeks rushed over to help her, and they finished it together as the entire Rose Garden Arena crowd sang with them.

[38][39] Cheeks actions were used by Harvard Business School Professor Thomas J. DeLong as an example of true leadership in times of crisis.

[9] Cheeks was popular among 76ers fans because of his eleven-year tenure with the 76ers, during which he helped guide the 76ers to the 1983 NBA championship.

The move was also praised by 76ers star Allen Iverson, who worked with Cheeks during his run as 76ers' Assistant Head Coach.

[11] Frustrations began to grow with 76ers veterans Allen Iverson and Chris Webber, who were not happy with the team's direction.

[43] Toward the end of the 2006 season, the two were fined for tardiness coming to a game, but soon apologized profusely to Cheeks.

[44][45] During the 2006–07 season, Iverson would be traded to the Nuggets and Webber would be released,[46] leaving Cheeks with one of the youngest teams in the NBA.

[52] They started out the 2008–09 NBA season 9–14 despite their signing of Elton Brand and re-signing of Andre Iguodala during the off-season.

[55] On February 9, 2014, the Detroit Pistons relieved him of his head coaching duties and replaced him with John Loyer on an interim basis for the remainder of the season.

[56] The move came after owner Tom Gores suggested that the Pistons were "better than our record" and weren't playing "at their maximum"—a veiled criticism of Cheeks.

[61] On September 7, 2018, Cheeks was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a player.

In 2022, a group of present and former Philadelphia Inquirer sports writers ranked Cheeks as the seventh greatest Sixer of all-time, only behind fellow hall of fame players Wilt Chamberlain, Julius Erving, Moses Malone, Allen Iverson, Charles Barkley and Hal Greer.