On this day in 1966: Matt Guokas Jr. opens the NBA’s first father-son chapter

Sixty years ago tonight, a Philadelphia kid in a Sixers jersey stepped onto the Convention Hall floor and quietly opened a new chapter in NBA family history. On October 15, 1966, Matt Guokas Jr. made his debut for the Philadelphia 76ers against the New York Knicks. NBA.com’s archive notes that the night marked the first time a father-son combination had both competed in the NBA: Matt Sr. had played for Philadelphia in the 1940s, and by 1966 he was calling Sixers games as a sportscaster.

The debut itself was efficient. Guokas played 16 minutes, made 3 of 4 shots from the field, added a free throw and finished with 7 points, 2 rebounds and an assist in Philadelphia’s 128-112 win. Wilt Chamberlain dominated with 28 points and 21 rebounds. Chet Walker scored 25, Hal Greer 19 and Billy Cunningham 15. The Knicks got 24 from Dave Stallworth and 22 from Howard Komives, but the Sixers controlled the glass 81-60 and never let the opener slip.

A Philadelphia first, two decades in the making

The Guokas name already belonged to Philadelphia basketball. Matt Sr., a Saint Joseph’s product like his son, played forward for the Philadelphia Warriors in the Basketball Association of America’s 1946-47 season and won a championship that year — the same franchise lineage that later moved west as the Golden State Warriors. His brother Al Guokas also reached the NBA. By the time Matt Jr. was drafted ninth overall by the 76ers in 1966 out of Saint Joseph’s Prep and Saint Joseph’s University, the family had already bridged the BAA and the modern league.

That made Convention Hall feel like a homecoming with a twist. The father who had worn Philadelphia colors in the league’s infancy was now in the broadcast booth while his son checked into a Sixers opener packed with future Hall of Famers. Guokas was not the star of the night, and he did not need to be. The milestone was the jersey and the family tree, not a 30-point explosion.

• Debut box: 16 minutes, 7 points (3-of-4 FG, 1-of-2 FT), 2 rebounds, 1 assist in a 128-112 win over New York at Convention Hall.
• Draft: No. 9 overall by the Philadelphia 76ers in 1966; consensus second-team All-American at Saint Joseph’s.
• Family: Father Matt Sr. (1946-47 Warriors champion); uncle Al Guokas also played in the NBA.
• Same night: Bill Russell’s first game as the NBA’s first Black player-coach, and the Chicago Bulls’ first NBA game — both covered separately in WhyNBA’s Features & History section.

From first father-son pair to first father-son champions

Guokas’s rookie year ended with a ring. The 1966-67 Sixers, coached by Alex Hannum and paced by Chamberlain, Greer, Walker, Cunningham and Luke Jackson, finished 68-13 and ended Boston’s eight-year title streak. Guokas averaged 3.0 points in 69 regular-season games and contributed in 15 playoff games. When Philadelphia closed out San Francisco in the Finals, he and Matt Sr. became the first father-son pair to both win NBA championships — Sr. with the 1946-47 Warriors, Jr. with the 1966-67 Sixers.

He stayed in the league for a decade: five seasons in Philadelphia, then stops with Chicago, Cincinnati/Kansas City-Omaha, Houston and Buffalo before finishing with Kansas City. Career totals ran to 735 games, 5.8 points and 3.0 assists per night. Later he returned to the Sixers as an assistant on the 1983 title team, coached Philadelphia and became the first head coach of the Orlando Magic, then moved into network and team broadcasting. The debut night was only the start of a long Philadelphia-to-NBA life.

Not the same milestone as LeBron and Bronny

Modern fans often hear “first father-son” and think of October 23, 2024, when LeBron James and Bronny James checked into the same Los Angeles Lakers game together. That night was a different first: the first father and son to play together in one NBA game. Guokas’s milestone in 1966 was earlier and narrower in a different way — the first father-son pair to both play in the league, not on the same roster or in the same box score. Matt Sr. was already retired and on the mic when Matt Jr. debuted.

Both stories matter. One is about sharing the floor. The other is about a family crossing the league threshold for the first time, twenty years apart, in the same city. On a stacked October 15 that also gave the NBA its first Black head coach and the Bulls their first game, Guokas’s 16 minutes were easy to miss in the box score. Sixty years later, they still mark the night the father-son era of NBA history began.