Browsing: Wilkens

Lenny Wilkens, whose Hall of Fame basketball career as a player and coach included being the head coach of the 1996 U.S. Olympic menâ€s team, has died at age 88.

Wilkens was a coach for the first two U.S. Olympic teams to include NBA players in 1992 (one of Chuck Dalyâ€s three assistants) and 1996 (head coach at the Atlanta Games).

“Lenny Wilkens represented the very best of the NBA — as a Hall of Fame player, Hall of Fame coach, and one of the gameâ€s most respected ambassadors,†NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said in a statement. “So much so that, four years ago, Lenny received the unique distinction of being named one of the leagueâ€s 75 greatest players and 15 greatest coaches of all time.

“But even more impressive than Lennyâ€s basketball accomplishments, which included two Olympic gold medals and an NBA championship, was his commitment to service – especially in his beloved community of Seattle where a statue stands in his honor. He influenced the lives of countless young people as well as generations of players and coaches who considered Lenny not only a great teammate or coach but also an extraordinary mentor who led with integrity and true class.

“I send my heartfelt condolences to Lennyâ€s wife, Marilyn; their children, Leesha, Randy and Jamee; and all those throughout the NBA community who were fortunate to be touched by Lennyâ€s leadership and generosity.â€

In 1960, Wilkens was not invited to try out for the Olympic team despite finishing his Providence career as an Associated Press All-America Second Team selection.

“To me, the Olympics were huge,†Wilkens wrote in his book, “Unguarded.†“I wanted to represent my country. I had taken part in the ROTC program in college. During my senior year, my basketball goal wasnâ€t the NBA, it was the Olympics. … I couldnâ€t even think about the Olympics without having a sick feeling for some thirty-two years, not until the 1992 dream team.â€

In April 1995, Wilkens was named head coach for the Atlanta Olympic team while also coaching the Atlanta Hawks, three months after breaking Red Auerbachâ€s career regular season wins record for an NBA head coach.

“If ever I was going to be the head coach of the Olympic team, 1996 was the year,†Wilkens wrote. “And when it happened, I was very pleased. I knew the moment would be special, but when I was alone and had a chance to think about it, I was surprised at how emotional I became. I was talking about it with some friends, and I got a little choked up. I started to think of where I came from, of all the things that had to happen for me to reach that point, of the odds against a kid who played only a half-year of high-school basketball going on to have a longer career as a player and coach than anyone in NBA history.â€

Wilkens led the U.S. on an 8-0 run to gold at the Atlanta Games, each win by at least 22 points.

The roster included returning Olympians — Charles Barkley, Karl Malone, Scottie Pippen, Mitch Richmond, David Robinson and John Stockton — as well as first-time Olympians Penny Hardaway, Grant Hill, Reggie Miller, Shaquille Oâ€Neal, Hakeem Olajuwon and Gary Payton.

“By the end of the Olympics, I felt just like Chuck Daly had in 1992: I was relieved it was over, relieved we won, and very proud of how the players held up under the pressure,†Wilkens wrote. “I was happy that we won my way, by playing all the guys, playing different lineups every game, and we still won big. But with some people, we couldnâ€t win: If we beat a team by only 20 points, then we were flat and just going through the motions; if we won by 40 or 50 points, we were pouring it on. I thought the media criticism we got early in the Olympics was unfair; they kept putting us up against the 1992 team, and there was no way weâ€d ever win that comparison.â€

Wilkens was a nine-time All-Star as a player, was the first person to reach 1,000 wins as an NBA coach and was the second person inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame as a player and coach.

He coached the Seattle SuperSonics to the NBA title in 1979 and remained iconic in that city for the rest of his life, often being considered a godfather of sorts for basketball in Seattle — which lost the Sonics to Oklahoma City in 2008 and has been trying to get a team back since.

Wilkens, the 1994 NBA coach of the year with Atlanta, retired with 1,332 coaching wins — a league record that was later passed by Don Nelson (who retired with 1,335) and then Gregg Popovich ( who retired with 1,390).

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Lenny Wilkens, the nine-time All-Star player and member of the leagueâ€s 75th Anniversary team, who became a Seattle legend coaching the Super Sonics to the title in 1979, and coached USA menâ€s basketball to gold in 1996, has died at age 88.

Wilkens died surrounded by loved ones, according to the Associated Press. The family did not release a cause of death.

“Lenny Wilkens represented the very best of the NBA – as a Hall of Fame player, Hall of Fame coach, and one of the gameâ€s most respected ambassadors,†NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said in a statement. “So much so that, four years ago, Lenny received the unique distinction of being named one of the leagueâ€s 75 greatest players and 15 greatest coaches of all time.

“But even more impressive than Lennyâ€s basketball accomplishments, which included two Olympic gold medals and an NBA championship, was his commitment to service – especially in his beloved community of Seattle where a statue stands in his honor. He influenced the lives of countless young people as well as generations of players and coaches who considered Lenny not only a great teammate or coach but also an extraordinary mentor who led with integrity and true class.â€

Wilkens was born and raised in Brooklyn and attended college at Providence. The 6’1″ point guard was the No. 6 pick of the St. Louis Hawks in the 1960 NBA Draft and went on to play 15 seasons in the league. Wilkens was a nine-time All-Star as a player, averaging 16.5 points and 6.6 assists a game. His best season came with St. Louis in 1968, when he averaged 20 points, 5.7 assists, and 5.3 rebounds per game, finishing second in MVP voting (behind Wilt Chamberlain). Wilkens was inducted into the Hall of Fame as a player in 1989.

However, Wilkens may be better remembered as a coach — he is third on the all-time coaching wins list and was the head coach in Seattle when the Sonics won the title in 1979. Wilkens loved Seattle and was deeply invested in the city, beyond coaching a basketball team.

“Lenny probably doesnâ€t even know that without him, Iâ€m not here,†said an emotional Sacramento coach Doug Christie, who grew up in the Seattle Area.

“He was an unbelievable man. Just an incredible man … ” said Steve Kerr, who played for Wilkens for three seasons in Cleveland. “What I remember most is just the dignity. You know, he was just such a dignified human being and great leader through kind of this quiet confidence.â€

He has coached more games than anyone in NBA history (2,487) and was voted the NBA Coach of the Year in 1994, when he took over the Atlanta Hawks and led them to a 57-win season.

Wilkens also was an assistant coach on the Dream Team, the legendarily stacked 1992 USA Olympic menâ€s basketball team that won Gold in Barcelona (and changed the face of basketball). Four years later, Wilkens took over as the head coach of USA Basketball for the Atlanta Olympics, leading a team that included Charles Barkley, Reggie Miller, Grant Hill, Shaquille Oâ€Neal, and others to gold.

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Lenny Wilkens, a smooth playmaker who was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame as both a player and a coach, died Sunday. He was 88.

In a 15-year playing career, Wilkens was an All-Star nine times and twice led the league in assists. Gifted with extraordinary court sense, Wilkens was a player-coach for four seasons, three with the Seattle SuperSonics and one with the Portland Trail Blazers, before moving full time into coaching. He led the Sonics to the 1979 NBA title and was Coach of the Year in 1994.

Wilkens won 1,332 games — third most all time — as coach of the Sonics, Trail Blazers, Cleveland Cavaliers, Atlanta Hawks, Toronto Raptors and New York Knicks before he retired in 2005. He coached 2,487 games, the most in NBA history. He also won an Olympic gold medal as coach of the 1996 U.S. team.

He is one of only five men to be inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame as both player and coach, joining John Wooden, Bill Sharman, Tom Heinsohn and Bill Russell.

“Lenny Wilkens represented the very best of the NBA — as a Hall of Fame player, Hall of Fame coach, and one of the game’s most respected ambassadors,” NBA commissioner Adam Silver said in a statement Sunday. “So much so that, four years ago, Lenny received the unique distinction of being named one of the league’s 75 greatest players and 15 greatest coaches of all time.”

Lenny Wilkens (14) of the St. Louis Hawks drives past Hal Greer of the Philadelphia 76ers during an NBA basketball game in 1965 at Convention Hall in Philadelphia. Focus on Sport/Getty Images

A slight left-hander, barely 6 feet tall, Wilkens grew up in Brooklyn’s Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood in New York. His father was a chauffeur who died when he was 5; his mother worked in a candy factory. Wilkins didn’t play for his high school team until his senior season. His parish priest wrote to the athletic director at Providence College asking that Wilkens be considered for a scholarship despite his limited play. Wilkens became the Friars’ first big star, a two-time All-American at Providence.

He led Providence to its first NIT appearance in 1959 and to the NIT finals in 1960. Wilkens’ No. 14 was retired in 1996, the first jersey retired by Providence College. In 2006, he was a member of the College Basketball Hall of Fame’s inaugural class.

The St. Louis Hawks chose Wilkens in the first round of the 1960 draft. In his second season, he played only 20 games because of a military commitment, but he returned full time in 1962-63 and led the Hawks to six consecutive playoff appearances. In 1967-68, his last season with the Hawks, Wilkens finished second to Wilt Chamberlain in MVP balloting.

Wilkens was traded to the expansion SuperSonics in 1968. He averaged 22.4 points, 8.2 assists and 6.2 rebounds in his first season for the Sonics, and was an All-Star in three of his seasons for them.

Before the 1969-70 season, Sonics GM Dick Vertlieb asked Wilkens to become player-coach. “We went around and around,” Wilkens told the Boston Globe. “I told him no at first. I finally decided, what the heck, I had nothing to lose; I’d try it and see if I liked it. Everyone always said I was like a coach on the floor, anyway.”

In his third season as player-coach, the Sonics went 47-35, the first time in franchise history the team finished over .500.

Wilkens was traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers before the 1972-73 season, a move that was hugely unpopular in Seattle. He averaged 20.5 points and 8.4 assists for the lowly Cavaliers in his first season and represented them in the 1973 All-Star Game. He spent his final season as player-coach for the Trail Blazers in 1974-75, before moving to coaching full time.

After a season as Portland’s full-time coach, Wilkens returned to Seattle as coach in 1977-78, replacing Bob Hopkins, who started the season 5-17. Wilkens led the Sonics to the NBA Finals that season, where they lost to the Washington Bullets in seven games. He brought the Sonics back to the Finals in 1979, when they beat the Bullets for Seattle’s first and only NBA title.

Lenny Wilkens holds up the NBA championship trophy surrounded by some of the thousands of fans who lined Seattle streets on June 4, 1979, in celebration of the Sonics’ victory over the Washington Bullets. AP Photo

Asked to explain how he related so well to players, Wilkens once told Newsday, “I know what young players are going through. I understand their backgrounds. I didn’t come from anything either, so I’ve been there.”

Wilkens coached four other franchises to the playoffs. In 1995, he set a record he thought would last forever when he passed Red Auerbach as the league’s all-time leader in coaching wins. He celebrated with a cigar.

“He was my standard. And so that’s why I lit that cigar up,” Wilkens said. “I never smoked a cigar in my life, you know and I lit it up and almost choked, but I wanted it as a tribute to Red Auerbach.”

Wilkens was ultimately passed by Don Nelson, who is second all time with 1,335 wins, three more than Wilkens. Gregg Popovich had since passed both of them before retiring with 1,388 wins.

When Wilkens retired after coaching 32 seasons, he held the all-time mark for wins, losses and games coached. He rarely had superstars on his teams. The only Hall of Famer Wilkens coached in his prime was Wilkens himself.

“I’ve always believed you need balance,” he once said. “It’s not that I don’t want a star — I’ll always take a star — but even if you have a star, it’s important to surround him with the right kind of complementary players.”

Wilkens was honored around the basketball world Sunday after news of his death broke, with the WNBA’s Seattle Storm saying on social media: “His legacy and impact, both on the court and throughout our community, will continue to inspire for generations.”

Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr, who played under Wilkens from 1989 to 1992, called his former coach “an incredible man.”

Wilkens was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 1989 as a player. He went in as a coach in 1998 and continued to coach through the 2004-05 season. He was also inducted into the Hall in 2010 as an assistant coach for the 1992 Olympic Dream Team.

“Lenny didn’t dunk,” Sam Smith wrote in an ESPN column on Wilkens in 2002. “He was barely 6 feet tall and 175 pounds. He didn’t seem that fast, but he always got to the basket. He didn’t do anything to draw attention. He just scored or got the ball to someone to score. It was the way he later coached. No frills.

“Lenny also was tough, but he didn’t look it — because he was a pioneer. African-American kids weren’t offered many big-time basketball scholarships in 1956, and that’s one reason he ended up at Providence College. And when Wilkens took over the Sonics in 1969 as player/coach, African-Americans weren’t getting coaching opportunities.

“Wilkens didn’t shout for attention or demand it. He earned it with results, which is the way it should be. He never had stars, but he built winners. He rarely had the ultimate success, but his teams were always well-prepared, effective, competitive and committed. No one could ask more of a coach. And few could ever do it better than Lenny Wilkens.”

Wilkens retired to Medina, Washington. For 17 years, he ran the NBA Coaches Association. His Lenny Wilkens Foundation has raised millions in Seattle, where he remains beloved for bringing the SuperSonics a title.

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