PORTLAND (NBA) - Team USA assistant and Portland Trail Blazers coach Nate McMillan has paid an emotional tribute to Maurice Lucas, who died on Sunday following a long battle with bladder cancer.
 
He was 58 years old.
 
Nicknamed "The Enforcer", Lucas was an outstanding pro with the Trail Blazers who averaged more than 20 points and 11 rebounds in 1976-77 - the year Portland captured their lone NBA title.
 
"We have lost a champion of a man," McMillan said in a statement.
 
"Maurice was a great man and a great friend. He battled his illness like the warrior he was on the basketball court."
 
Lucas was an assistant coach of Portland for six years but had to leave the post to have surgery and did not return.
 
"We were so fortunate to have his influence on the young men on this team,” McMillan said.
 
“He was my mentor, my big brother, and I always knew he had my back. He has left us far too soon."
 
Lucas was a Trail Blazers teammate and good friend of basketball great Bill Walton, who named his son Luke after him.
 
Luke Walton plays for the Los Angeles Lakers.
 
FIBA