Background
Maurice was born on June 17, 1933 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States, the son of Tero Stokes, a steelworker, and Myrtle Stokes (maiden name unknown).
Maurice was born on June 17, 1933 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States, the son of Tero Stokes, a steelworker, and Myrtle Stokes (maiden name unknown).
Stokes attended Westinghouse High School, graduating in 1951. A highly recruited basketball player, he entered St. Francis College in Loretto, Pennsylvania, where he majored in teacher education. He received a B. A. in 1955. In college Stokes achieved stardom on the basketball court.
In his first two college seasons, Stokes scored 922 points, including a freshman school record of 505.
Between 1951 and 1955 he scored a total of 2, 282 points while holding eleven of the thirteen individual records for a St. Francis College basketball player; eight of those records still stood in 1987.
He was named to the All-American Basketball Team from his sophomore year through his senior year. In 1955, Stokes led the St. Francis team to a fourth-place finish in the National Invitation Tournament. Against Dayton University, on March 17, Stokes scored 43 points and grabbed 19 rebounds. In the tournament he scored a record 124 points in four games.
Stokes received the most-valuable-player trophy for his performance. His college career ended with his selection to the starting lineup of the All-American Team. Stokes was a first-round draft choice of the Rochester Royals in the National Basketball Association (NBA) in 1955. (He turned down an offer from the Harlem Globetrotters. )
In his first season with the Royals, he averaged 16. 1 points a game and was second in the league in rebounds.
He was chosen NBA Rookie of the Year. In his second season, after the franchise moved to Cincinnati, Stokes set a league record by pulling down 38 rebounds in one game. That same year, he led the NBA in rebounds, averaging 17. 4 a game. In his final season, Stokes was second in the league in rebounds (18. 1 a game), third in assists (6. 4), and among the top fifteen scorers with an average of 16. 9 points a game.
Near the end of his third NBA season, while at the top of his game, Stokes fell and struck his head while scrambling for a rebound against the Minneapolis Lakers. The fall knocked him unconscious, but he revived and continued playing.
Three days later, on March 15, 1958, after an opening-round game against the Detroit Pistons in the Western Division playoffs, he collapsed. He was in a coma for six months and thereafter was paralyzed. Confined to a wheelchair and with only partial speech, Stokes fought back courageously against his handicap. The rehabilitation process was slow and painful. His mind remained clear and sharp, and he worked continuously at physical-therapy exercises and never lost hope that one day he would walk.
Stokes was assisted in his rehabilitation by his former professional teammate Jack Twyman, who became his legal guardian and constant companion. Twyman visited Stokes daily in the hospital and arranged for paying the enormous medical costs. As the "No. 1 Brother's Keeper, " Twyman, in 1959, established at Kutsher's Country Club in Monticello, New York, the annual Maurice Stokes Benefit Game, which attracts numerous professional basketball stars. Stokes died of a heart attack at Good Samaritan Hospital in Cincinnati, where he had been hospitalized since March 1958.
He is one of five NBA players who have recorded 4 consecutive triple-doubles. He set a league record for most rebounds in a single season with 1, 256 (17. 4 per game). Stokes was second in the NBA in rebounds and third in assists in 1957–58; a feat only Wilt Chamberlain has matched for a full season. On June 9, 2013, the NBA announced that both Stokes and Jack Twyman would be honored with an annual award in their names, the Twyman–Stokes Teammate of the Year Award, which recognizes the player that embodies the league's ideal teammate that season.
Quotations: When he learned to use an electric typewriter, he wrote, "I always tried to bear down in competition, but I never had to put out quite as hard as I do in this exercising. "
Although he stood six feet, seven inches and weighed 240 pounds, Stokes possessed the speed and agility of a small man.
His personal battle to overcome his physical handicap became a symbol of one man's courage and determination to restore himself to full health.
Quotes from others about the person
After Stokes scored 32 points against Villanova, Al Severance, the Villanova coach, commented, "He's the best freshman player I've ever seen. "
"Stokes is no rookie, " stated Red Auerbach, the Boston Celtic coach and later Hall of Famer. "He was ready for this league when he was in college. Nothing will stop him. "
