Lenny Wilkens - # 353

Hall of Famer Lenny Wilkens, who coached the most games in NBA history, dies at 88

 

He was number 353 on the list.

Lenny Wilkens, a three-time inductee into the Basketball Hall of Fame who was enshrined as both a player and a coach, has died, his family said Sunday. He was 88.

The family said Wilkens was surrounded by loved ones when he died and did not immediately release a cause of death.

Wilkens was one of the finest point guards of his era who later brought his calm and savvy style to the sideline, first as a player-coach and then evolving into one of the game’s great coaches.

He coached 2,487 games in the NBA, which is still a record. He became a Hall of Famer as a player, as a coach and again as part of the 1992 U.S. Olympic team — on which he was an assistant. Wilkens coached the Americans to gold at the Atlanta Games as well in 1996.

“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 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.”

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.

And he did it all with grace, something he was proud of.

“Leaders don’t yell and scream,” Wilkens told Seattle’s KOMO News earlier this year.

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).

Wilkens played 15 seasons with the St. Louis Hawks, SuperSonics, Cleveland Cavaliers and Portland Trail Blazers. He was an All-Star five times with St. Louis, three times in Seattle and once with Cleveland in 1973 at age 35. A statue depicting his time with the SuperSonics was installed outside Climate Pledge Arena in June.

“Even more impressive than Lenny’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,” Silver said. “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.”

Leonard Wilkens was born Oct. 28, 1937, in New York. His basketball schooling came on Brooklyn’s playgrounds and at a city powerhouse, then Boys High School, where one of his teammates was major league baseball star Tommy Davis. He would go on to star at Providence College and was drafted by the Hawks as the sixth overall pick in 1960.

His resume as a player would have been enough to put Wilkens in consideration for the Hall of Fame. What he accomplished as a coach — both through success and longevity — cemented his legacy.

Countless other honors also came his way, including being elected to the FIBA Hall of Fame, the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame, the College Basketball Hall of Fame, the Providence Hall of Fame and the Cleveland Cavaliers’ Wall of Honor.

His coaching stops included two stints in Seattle totaling 11 seasons, two seasons in Portland — during one of which he still played and averaged 18 minutes per game — seven seasons in both Cleveland and Atlanta, three seasons in Toronto and parts of two years with the Knicks.

Warriors coach Steve Kerr, who played for Wilkens from 1989 to 1993, remembers him most for the dignity with which he maneuvered through life.

“He was such a dignified human being and a great leader with this kind of quiet confidence,” Kerr said. “He’d been through quite a bit in his life, in his childhood, just in America and dealing with being a Black man in America. And he shared some of that with us and for him to forge the career that he did in the game and to make the impact that he did on so many people, pretty impressive.”

Wilkens moved into first place on the wins list on Jan. 6, 1995, while coaching the Hawks. His 939th victory surpassed Red Auerbach’s record. From there, he became the first coach to reach 1,000 career wins, a mark since matched by nine others.

The possibility of playing and coaching at the same time was raised before the 1969 season when Wilkens was at the home of SuperSonics general manager Dick Vertlieb and playing a leisurely game of pool.

“I thought he was crazy,” Wilkens recalled. “I kept putting him off, but he was persistent. Finally, we were getting so close to training camp, so I said, ‘What the heck, I’ll try it.’”

From there, he became increasingly enamored with coaching.

Seattle trailed the Cincinnati Royals by four points with a few seconds remaining when Wilkens set up a play that resulted in a dunk. Then, he ordered his players to press since the Royals were out of timeouts. The Sonics stole the inbounds pass, scored again to tie the game and won in overtime.

“I was like, ‘Wow!”’ Wilkens said. “I had just done something as a coach that helped us win, not as a player.”

After his coaching career ended in 2005, Wilkens returned to the Seattle area where he lived every offseason. Wilkens ran his foundation for decades, with its primary benefactor being the Odessa Brown Children’s Clinic in Seattle’s Central District.

Wilkens is survived by his wife, Marilyn; their children, Leesha, Randy and Jamee; and seven grandchildren.

In 1996, Wilkens was named to the NBA 50th Anniversary Team, and in 2021 he was named to the NBA 75th Anniversary Team. In addition, in 2022 he was also named to the list of the 15 Greatest Coaches in NBA History, being the only person to be in both NBA 75th season celebration lists, as a player and as a coach. He is also a 2006 inductee into the College Basketball Hall of Fame.

Wilkens was a two-time All-America (1959 and 1960) at Providence College. He led the team to their first NIT appearance in 1959, and to the NIT finals in 1960. When he graduated, Wilkens was, with 1,193 points, the second-ranked scorer in Friar history (he has since dropped to 26th as of 2011).

He began his career with eight seasons with the St. Louis Hawks, who lost the finals to the Boston Celtics in his rookie season. The Hawks made the playoffs consistently with Wilkens but never again reached the finals. Wilkens placed second to Wilt Chamberlain in the 1967–1968 MVP balloting, his last with the Hawks.

Wilkens was traded to the Seattle SuperSonics for Walt Hazzard and spent four seasons there. He averaged 22.4 points, 6.2 rebounds, and 8.2 assists per game in his first season for the SuperSonics, and was an All-Star in three of his seasons for them. He was named head coach in his second season with the team. Although the SuperSonics did not reach the playoffs while Wilkens simultaneously coached and started at point guard, their record improved each season and they won 47 games during the 1971–72 NBA season. Wilkens was dealt to the Cleveland Cavaliers before the start of the next season in a highly unpopular trade, and the SuperSonics fell to 26–56 without his leadership on the court.

Wilkens scored 17,772 points during the regular season, was a nine-time NBA All-Star, and was named the 1971 NBA All-Star Game MVP in 1971. With Seattle, he led the league in assists in the 1969–70 season, and at the time of his retirement was the NBA's second all-time leader in that category, behind only Oscar Robertson. In 2021, to commemorate the NBA's 75th Anniversary The Athletic ranked their top 75 players of all time, and named Wilkens as the 75th greatest player in NBA history.

On June 2, 1993, Wilkens was hired as the head coach of the Atlanta Hawks. In Wilkens' first season, the Hawks tied a then-franchise record with 57 wins, earning the top seed in the Eastern Conference. However, the Hawks traded their superstar Dominique Wilkins midway through the season for Danny Manning, leading to a second-round defeat to the Indiana Pacers. On January 6, 1995, Wilkens won his 939th career regular season game to surpass Red Auerbach as the all-time winningest coach in NBA history, a record he would hold for nearly 15 seasons. In 1997, his contract was extended to two years and $10.4 million dollars. The Hawks never advanced past the second round during Wilkens' tenure despite six consecutive playoff berths and three 50-win seasons. On 24 April 2000, he resigned as head coach following a 28-54 record.

In June 2000, Wilkens signed a four-year, $20 million dollar contract to become head coach of the Toronto Raptors, replacing Butch Carter. In his first season at the helm, he led the Raptors franchise to their first playoff series win, defeating the New York Knicks in the first round. Wilkens and the team parted ways after a disappointing and injury riddled 2002-03 season where they finished with a 24-58 record.

Wilkens was the General Manager of the Seattle SuperSonics from April 24, 1985 until May 27, 1986. During his stint as GM, he drafted future All-Star Xavier McDaniel and hired Head Coach Bernie Bickerstaff.

Sacramento coach Doug Christie was born and raised in Seattle. The SuperSonics meant everything to him as a kid. And when he heard the news about the death of Lenny Wilkens, who meant the world to basketball fans in that city, Christie couldn’t hold back the tears.

“Without him,” Christie said, “I’m not here.”

“An unbelievable man,” Golden State coach Steve Kerr said. “Just an incredible man.”

Wilkens eventually saw Don Nelson pass his record for coaching victories, and then Gregg Popovich eclipsed Nelson’s total. But Wilkens’ impact on coaches, even now, cannot be argued, Indiana coach Rick Carlisle said.

 

Career history

Playing

1960–1968      St. Louis Hawks

1968–1972      Seattle SuperSonics

1972–1974      Cleveland Cavaliers

1974–1975      Portland Trail Blazers

Coaching

1969–1972      Seattle SuperSonics

1974–1976      Portland Trail Blazers

1977–1985      Seattle SuperSonics

1986–1993      Cleveland Cavaliers

1993–2000      Atlanta Hawks

2000–2003      Toronto Raptors

2004–2005      New York Knicks

Career highlights

As player:

9× NBA All-Star (1963–1965, 1967–1971, 1973)

NBA All-Star Game MVP (1971)

NBA assists leader (1970)

NBA anniversary teams (50th, 75th)

No. 19 retired by Seattle SuperSonics

Consensus second-team All-American (1960)

As coach:

 

NBA champion (1979)

NBA Coach of the Year (1994)

4× NBA All-Star Game head coach (1979, 1980, 1989, 1994)

Top 10 Coaches in NBA History

Top 15 Coaches in NBA History

Chuck Daly Lifetime Achievement Award (2011)