Paul Mokeski

Paul Mokeski (born January 3, 1957) is an American former basketball player and coach who is semi retired. Mokeski was head coach of the Nevada Desert Dogs in North American Premier Basketball (NAPB). Standing 7 ft 0 in,[1] he played the center position. He was a college basketball player out of Crespi Carmelite High School and the University of Kansas, most noted for his tenure with the Milwaukee Bucks.[2][3]

Paul Mokeski
Personal information
Born (1957-01-03) January 3, 1957
Spokane, Washington
NationalityAmerican
Listed height7 ft 0 in (2.13 m)
Listed weight255 lb (116 kg)
Career information
High schoolCrespi Carmelite (Encino, California)
CollegeKansas (1975–1979)
NBA draft1979 / Round: 2 / Pick: 42nd overall
Selected by the Houston Rockets
Playing career1979–1993
PositionCenter
Number54, 53, 44, 45
Coaching career1994–2018
Career history
As player:
1979–1980Houston Rockets
1980–1982Detroit Pistons
1982Cleveland Cavaliers
1983–1989Milwaukee Bucks
1989–1990Cleveland Cavaliers
1991Golden State Warriors
1992–1993Quad City Thunder
As coach:
1994–1995Hartford Hellcats
1996Connecticut Skyhawks
2003–2004Dallas Mavericks (assistant)
2007–2009Charlotte Bobcats (assistant)
2009–2011Rio Grande Valley Vipers (assistant)
2011–2013Reno Bighorns
2013–2014Rio Grande Valley Vipers (assistant)
2014–2015Brampton A's (assistant)
2016–2017Moncton Miracles
2017–2018Nevada Desert Dogs
Career NBA statistics
Points2,764 (4.0 ppg)
Rebounds2,342 (3.4 rpg)
Assists500 (0.7 apg)
Stats  at NBA.com
Stats  at Basketball-Reference.com

Playing career

On the Bucks, Mokeski played a role as a key bench player on several deep playoff runs, perhaps most notably during the 1984 NBA Playoffs where he averaged career postseason bests of 6.1 points and 5.5 rebounds in only 20 minutes a game.[4] On March 28, 1985, Mokeski scored a career high 21 points, along with grabbing 7 rebounds, in a 121-116 win over the New York Knicks.[5]

Coaching career

Mokeski was an assistant coach with the Fort Worth Flyers of the NBA D-League.[6] In June 2007, he was hired by the NBA's Charlotte Bobcats as an assistant coach under Sam Vincent.[6] He was let go at the end of the 2007-08 season, when Vincent was fired.

Mokeski was later hired as an assistant coach with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers of the D-League.[7] In September 2011, he became the head coach of the Reno Bighorns.[8] In March 2013, he was relieved of his head coaching duties.[9] He returned to the Vipers for one season before heading north to coach in the National Basketball League of Canada (NBL Canada). In 2016, he was hired as the head coach of the Moncton Miracles, a team that was then being operated by the league. In 2017, the Miracles folded to make way for a new NBL Canada team called the Moncton Magic. NBL Canada commissioner, David Magley, then left the league to become president of a new league called North American Premier Basketball and announced that Mokeski would be one of the inaugural coaches when the league launched in 2018.[10]

On August 16, 2018, Mokeski was named the commissioner of The Basketball League (TBL) for the 2019 season.[11]

Personal life

Mokeski co-hosts a weekly basketball podcast called “The D.Gerv and Big Mo Show” with Derrick Gervin.[12]

References
  1. Paul Mokeski. espn.com
  2. Paul Mokeski. legendsofbasketball.com
  3. Paul Mokeski. basketball-reference.com
  4. "Paul Mokeski Per Game Playoffs". Basketball Reference.
  5. "Paul Mokeski Career High 21 Points". Statmuse.
  6. Ex-NBA center Mokeski hired as Bobcats assistant June 13, 2007
  7. "Archived copy". www.nba.com. Archived from the original on December 19, 2008. Retrieved January 17, 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  8. Reno Bighorns Hire Paul Mokeski As New Head Coach
  9. Jason Glover Named Interim Head Coach
  10. "KU notebook: Ex-Jayhawk David Magley leaves Canada pro league for new venture in U.S." The Kansas City Star. July 2, 2017.
  11. "Mesquite (Nevada) Desert Dogs coming back for 2019". Mesquite Local News. August 17, 2018.
  12. "After passing on Gonzaga in the 1970s, former NBA big man Paul Mokeski says Zags rank among his favorites today". The Spokesman-Review.
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