Presented is a 1979-1980 National Basketball Association Eastern Conference Champions trophy presented to former Philadelphia 76ers point guard Maurice Cheeks. The trophy consists of a gold-toned hollow metal full-size basketball on a 3-inch silver metal pedestal, mounted on a 4½ x 7½ x 7½-inch hollow brown and black wood base. (Please note that the basketball and pedestal are loosely attached to the base). On the front panel of the wood base is mounted a 3½ x 6½-inch silver metal plaque featuring the 76ers logo silk-screened in black at the left, and the NBA logo in black at the right. In the center, silk-screened in black type, is inscribed “Maurice Cheeks 1979-1980 NBA Eastern Conference Champions”. Cheeks was selected with the 36th pick in the second round of the 1978 NBA Draft by the Sixers. He had his best seasons with the 76ers. At the young age of 22 he gained a notable role on the 76ers, solidifying himself as the starting point guard and earning himself valuable minutes. The 76ers were also in playoff contention for every year that he was on the team except for the 1987-1988 season. In the 1979–80 season the 76ers finished 59–23, two games behind the Boston Celtics in the Atlantic Division. In the playoffs, they eliminated the Washington Bullets in two games, and the Atlanta Hawks in five games. In the Eastern Conference Finals, the 76ers faced NBA Rookie of the Year Award winner Larry Bird and the 61–win Celtics, and owing to the core's three consecutive playoff appearances, the more experienced 76ers were favored to win the series. Proving the prognosticators right, Philadelphia won in five games, preventing the first Celtics–Lakers final since 1969. They lost to the Los Angeles Lakers in six games in the NBA Finals, a loss they would avenge in 1983 winning the ’83 crown.