A virtual unknown coming out of West Texas State University, which had an 8-19 record in his senior year, Cheeks was chosen by the Philadelphia 76ers in the second round of the 1978 NBA draft and he became the team's starting point guard as a rookie.
The 6-foot-1, 180-pound Cheeks specialized in assists and defense for his first several seasons with Philadelphia, but in the meantime he developed an accurate outside jump shot and began using his speed to drive to the basket, enabling him to average 15.4 points a game in 1985-86 and 15.6 in 1986-87.
The 76ers traded Cheeks to the San Antonio Spurs in 1989 and the Spurs sent him to the New York Knicks in February of 1990. Injuries began to slow Cheeks in 1991-92, when he played only 56 games for the Atlanta Hawks. He was released by the Hawks after the season and signed as a free agent with the New Jersey Nets in January of 1993.
He retired after the season with an NBA record of 2,310 career steals. A member of the league's all-defensive team four years in a row, from 1983 through 1986, Cheeks scored 12,195 points in 1,101 regular season games, an average of 11.1 per game, and had 7,392 assists. In 133 playoff games, he had 1,910 points, a 14.4 average, with 922 assists and 295 steals.