Maurice Cheeks helped Natalie Gilbert finish the national anthem when she performed it at a Portland Trail Blazers game in 2002. She returned to sing it again more than 20 years later.

The moment made national news. Head Coach Maurice Cheeks stepped in to help 13 year-old Natalie Gilbert complete the national anthem before game 3 of the 2003 Western Conference quarterfinals.

Twenty-two years after her last national anthem performance before a Portland Trail Blazers game, Natalie Gilbert was back Wednesday night to sing "The Star-Spangled Banner" with Maurice Cheeks in ...

Zito is best-known among basketball fans for one of her prior anthem performances alongside Cheeks during the 2003 NBA playoffs. A Rip City redemption like no other 🥹 ️🎶 pic.twitter.com ...

NBA fans witnessed a heartwarming moment on Wednesday when a national anthem singer reunited with longtime coach Maurice Cheeks, who memorably showed his support as she struggled to perform over ...

Coach Maurice Cheeks stepped in to help 13-year-old Natalie Gilbert complete the national anthem before game 3 of the 2003 Western Conference quarterfinals. Bruce Ely/The Oregonian© Bruce Ely ...

LAS VEGAS — Maurice Cheeks, a longtime NBA Head & Assistant Coach and a member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, is the recipient of the 2025 Tex Winter Assistant Coach Lifetime Impact ...

Bill Oram’s commentary on national anthem singer Natalie Gilbert (now Natalie Zito) was for me, in Oram’s words, a “tonic for our times,” (“Bill Oram: Natalie Gilbert’s anthem reprise ...

Maurice Cheeks helped Natalie Gilbert finish the national anthem when she performed it at a Portland Trail Blazers game in 2002. She returned to sing it again more than 20 years later.

When Zito, then 13 years old, stumbled over one of the lyrics of the anthem prior to Game 3 of the best-of-seven set, Cheeks approached her with encouragement by placing his arm around her ...