6 days ago
13
ARTICLE AD BOX
SEATTLE -- Lenny Wilkens, a three-time inductee into the Basketball Hall of Fame who was enshrined arsenic some a subordinate and a coach, has died, his household said Sunday. He was 88.
The household said Wilkens was surrounded by loved ones erstwhile helium died and did not instantly merchandise a origin of death.
Wilkens was 1 of the finest constituent guards of his epoch who aboriginal brought his calm and savvy benignant to the sideline, archetypal arsenic a player-coach and past evolving into 1 of the game's large coaches.
He coached 2,487 games successful the NBA, which is inactive a record. He became a Hall of Famer arsenic a player, arsenic a manager and again arsenic portion of the 1992 U.S. Olympic squad — connected which helium was an assistant. Wilkens coached the Americans to golden astatine the Atlanta Games arsenic good successful 1996.
“Lenny Wilkens represented the precise champion of the NBA — arsenic a Hall of Fame player, Hall of Fame coach, and 1 of the game’s astir respected ambassadors,” NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said Sunday. “So overmuch truthful that, 4 years ago, Lenny received the unsocial favoritism of being named 1 of the league’s 75 top players and 15 top coaches of each time.”
Wilkens was a nine-time All-Star arsenic a player, was the archetypal idiosyncratic to scope 1,000 wins arsenic an NBA manager and was the 2nd idiosyncratic inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame arsenic a subordinate and coach. He coached the Seattle SuperSonics to the NBA rubric successful 1979 and remained iconic successful that metropolis for the remainder of his life, often being considered a godfather of sorts for hoops successful Seattle — which mislaid the Sonics to Oklahoma City successful 2008 and has been trying to get a squad backmost since.
And helium did it each with grace, thing helium was arrogant of.
“Leaders don’t outcry and scream,” Wilkens told Seattle’s KOMO News earlier this year.
Wilkens, the 1994 NBA manager of the twelvemonth with Atlanta, retired with 1,332 coaching wins — a league grounds that was aboriginal passed by Don Nelson (who retired with 1,335) and past Gregg Popovich (who retired with 1,390).
Wilkens played 15 seasons with the St. Louis Hawks, SuperSonics, Cleveland Cavaliers and Portland Trail Blazers. He was an All-Star 5 times with St. Louis, 3 times successful Seattle and erstwhile with Cleveland successful 1973 astatine property 35. A statue depicting his clip with the SuperSonics was installed outside Climate Pledge Arena successful June.
“Even much awesome than Lenny’s hoops accomplishments, which included 2 Olympic golden medals and an NBA championship, was his committedness to work — particularly successful his beloved assemblage of Seattle wherever a statue stands successful his honor,” Silver said. “He influenced the lives of countless young radical arsenic good arsenic generations of players and coaches who considered Lenny not lone a large teammate oregon manager but besides an bonzer mentor who led with integrity and existent class.”
Wilkens doubly led the league successful assists but was besides a salient scorer. He averaged successful treble figures scoring successful each play of his career, but his last 1 successful 1974-75 with the Trail Blazers. His champion play arsenic a scorer came successful his archetypal play with the SuperSonics successful 1968-69 erstwhile helium averaged 22.4 points, 8.2 assists and 6.2 rebounds.
Leonard Wilkens was calved connected Oct. 28, 1937, successful New York. His hoops schooling came connected Brooklyn’s playgrounds and astatine a metropolis powerhouse, past Boys High School, wherever 1 of his teammates was large league shot prima Tommy Davis. He would spell connected to prima astatine Providence and was drafted by the Hawks arsenic the sixth wide prime successful 1960.
___
Tim Booth, a erstwhile Associated Press sports writer, was the main writer of this obituary.
___
AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA
English (US) ·