NBA Hall of Fame inductee Lenny Wilkens dies
He was head coach and player for some of the biggest franchises such as the Seattle SuperSonics, the New York Knicks, the Cleveland Cavaliers or the Portland Trail Blazers.
Lenny Wilkens, coaching the Toronto Raptors in 2002. File image
(AFP) The legendary Lenny Wilkens, a member of the NBA Hall of Fame as both a player and coach, has died at 88, his family said Sunday.
Wilkens was an elegant point guard during his 15-year playing career. He participated in nine editions of the NBA All-Star Game and led the league in assists twice.
He served as a player-coach for four seasons - three with Seattle SuperSonics and one with Portland Trail Blazers - before embarking on a full-time coaching career that would become one of the most prominent in basketball history.
"Lenny Wilkens represented the best of the NBA: as a Hall of Fame player, a Hall of Fame coach and one of the sport's most respected ambassadors," NBA commissioner Adam Silver said in a statement.
"Four years ago, Lenny received the unique distinction of being named one of the league's 75 greatest players and one of the league's 15 greatest coaches of all time. But even more impressive than his basketball accomplishments - including two Olympic golds and an NBA championship - was his commitment to service, especially in his beloved Seattle community, where a statue stands in his honor," Silver added.
Wilkens led the SuperSonics to win their only NBA title in 1979. He also coached the Trail Blazers, Cleveland Cavaliers, Atlanta Hawks, Toronto Raptors and New York Knicks in a coaching career that spanned from 1969 to 2005.
His 2,487 games managed are an NBA record, and his 1,332 wins rank him third all-time, behind Gregg Popovich (1,388) and Don Nelson (1,335).
He also won Olympic gold as coach of the U.S. men's national team at the Atlanta 1996 games.
Wilkens is one of only five men inducted into the Hall of Fame both as a player and coach, along with John Wooden, Bill Sharman, Tom Heinsohn and Bill Russell.
"He was an extraordinary man. Just an unbelievable man," said Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr, who played more than three seasons under Wilkens in Cleveland early in his career.
"What I remember most is his dignity," Kerr added. "He was a person of great dignity and an exceptional leader with a quiet, understated confidence."
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