Lenny Wilkens, essentially the most prolific coach in NBA historical past who gained a league championship and bought inducted 3 times into the Naismith Basketball Corridor of Fame, died at his dwelling on Sunday. He was 88 years previous.
Initially a legendary participant for the Hawks, SuperSonics and Cavaliers, Wilkens continued his profession because the winningest (and losingest) coach in NBA historical past on the time of his retirement. Whereas Wilkens has coached extra video games than anybody else in NBA historical past, he has since been handed within the profession wins class by Greg Popovich and Don Nelson.
“Lenny Wilkens represented the easiest of the NBA – as a Corridor of Fame participant, Corridor of Fame coach, and one of many sport’s most revered ambassadors,” NBA commissioner Adam Silver mentioned in a press release. “However much more spectacular than Lenny’s basketball accomplishments, which included two Olympic gold medals and an NBA championship, was his dedication to service – particularly in his beloved group of Seattle the place a statue stands in his honor.
“He influenced the lives of numerous younger folks in addition to generations of gamers and coaches who thought-about Lenny not solely an excellent teammate or coach but additionally a unprecedented mentor who led with integrity and true class.”
Wilkens — who served as a player-coach for Seattle from 1979-72 — led the SuperSonics to the franchise’s solely NBA title in 1979. He coached Staff USA when the boys’s basketball staff gained the gold medal within the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, beforehand serving as an assistant on the famed “Dream Staff” squad that captured gold on the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.
Wilkens, whose No. 19 was retired by the Sonics, obtained his first Corridor of Fame induction in 1989 for his 15-year enjoying profession, which included 9 All-Star picks and an All-Star Recreation MVP in 1971. He was named to the NBA’s fiftieth and seventy fifth All-Anniversary groups.
The head of Wilkens’ teaching profession was Seattle’s five-game sequence win over the defending champion Washington Bullets within the 1979 NBA Finals. The Sonics extracted revenge after falling to the Bullets in seven video games in the course of the 1978 NBA Finals.
Wilkens continued his profession with the Cavs, then gained NBA Coach of the 12 months honors in 1994 after main the Hawks to a 52-27 regular-season document. He completed his profession with quick teaching stints with the Raptors and Knicks, taking each groups to the playoffs.
In 2021, Wilkens was named one of many 15 biggest coaches in NBA historical past. He obtained his second Corridor of Fame induction for his teaching in 1998 and his third in 2009 for his Olympic profession.
A two-time All-American at Windfall, Wilkens was inducted into the Faculty Basketball Corridor of Fame in 2006.
