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Lenny Wilkens

Leonard Randolph Wilkens (born October 28, 1937) is an American former basketball player and coach in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He has been inducted three times into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, first in 1989 as a player, as a coach in 1998, and in 2010 as part of the 1992 United States Olympic "Dream Team" for which he was an assistant coach. In 1996, Wilkens was named to the NBA 50th Anniversary Team, and in 2021 he was named to the NBA 75th Anniversary Team.[1][2] 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 list as player and coach.[3] He is also a 2006 inductee into the College Basketball Hall of Fame.

Lenny Wilkens
Wilkens in 2013
Personal information
Born (1937-10-28) October 28, 1937 (age 87)
Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
Listed height6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Listed weight180 lb (82 kg)
Career information
High schoolBoys (Brooklyn, New York)
CollegeProvidence (1957–1960)
NBA draft1960: 1st round, 6th overall pick
Selected by the St. Louis Hawks
Playing career1960–1975
PositionPoint guard
Number32, 15, 14, 19, 17
Coaching career1969–2005
Career history
As player:
1960–1968St. Louis Hawks
1968–1972Seattle SuperSonics
1972–1974Cleveland Cavaliers
1974–1975Portland Trail Blazers
As coach:
1969–1972Seattle SuperSonics
1974–1976Portland Trail Blazers
1977–1985Seattle SuperSonics
1986–1993Cleveland Cavaliers
1993–2000Atlanta Hawks
2000–2003Toronto Raptors
2004–2005New York Knicks
Career highlights and awards
As player:

As coach:

Career playing statistics
Points17,772 (16.5 ppg)
Rebounds5,030 (4.7 rpg)
Assists7,211 (6.7 apg)
Stats at NBA.com Edit this at Wikidata
Stats at Basketball Reference
Career coaching record
NBA1332–1155 (.536)
Record at Basketball Reference Edit this at Wikidata
Basketball Hall of Fame (playing)
Basketball Hall of Fame (coaching)
Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame
Medals
Head coach for  United States
men's national basketball team
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 1996 Atlanta Team
Assistant coach for  United States
men's national basketball team
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 1992 Barcelona Team

Wilkens made a combined 13-time NBA All-Star Game appearances as a player (nine times) and as a head coach (four times), was the 1993 NBA Coach of the Year, won the 1979 NBA championship as the head coach of the Seattle SuperSonics, and an Olympic gold medal as the head coach of the 1996 U.S. men's basketball team.

During the 1994–95 season, Wilkens set the record for most regular season coaching wins in NBA history, a record he held when he retired with 1,332 victories. As of February 2022, he is in third place on the list, behind Don Nelson and Gregg Popovich.[4] Wilkens won the Chuck Daly Lifetime Achievement Award for the 2010–11 NBA season.[5] Wilkens is also the most prolific coach in NBA history, at 2,487 regular-season games, 89 more games than Nelson, and over 400 more than any other coach, and has more losses than any other coach in NBA history, at 1,155.

Early life

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Leonard Randolph Wilkens was born on October 28, 1937, in Brooklyn, New York. Wilkens grew up in the Bedford–Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn.[6] His father was African American and his mother was Irish American.[7] Wilkens was raised in the Catholic faith.[7]

At Boys High School, Wilkens was a basketball teammate of longtime Major League Baseball star Tommy Davis, and played for coach Mickey Fisher.

College career

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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 20th as of 2005). In 1996, Wilkens' No. 14 jersey was retired by the college, the first alumnus to receive such an honor. In honor of his collegiate accomplishments, Wilkens was one of the inaugural inductees into the College Basketball Hall of Fame in 2006.

Professional career

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Wilkens with the Seattle SuperSonics in 1968

St. Louis Hawks (1960–1968)

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Wilkens was drafted sixth overall by the St. Louis Hawks in the 1960 NBA draft. 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.

Seattle SuperSonics (1968–1972)

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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.[8]

Cleveland Cavaliers (1972–1974)

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Wilkens played two seasons with the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Portland Trail Blazers (1974–1975)

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Wilkens played one season with the Portland Trail Blazers.

Legacy

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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.[9]

Coaching career

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Seattle SuperSonics (1969–1972)

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Wilkens was a player-coach for the Seattle SuperSonics from 1969 to 1972.

Portland Trail Blazers (1974–1976)

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In his one season as a player with the Portland Trail Blazers, he was a player-coach. He retired from playing in 1975 and was the full-time coach of the Trail Blazers for one more season.

Seattle SuperSonics (1977–1985)

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After a season off from coaching, he again became coach of the SuperSonics when he replaced Bob Hopkins who was fired 22 games into the 1977–78 season after a dismal 5–17 start. The SuperSonics won 11 of their first 12 games under Wilkens and made the playoffs in back-to-back years, losing in seven games to the Washington Bullets in the 1978 NBA Finals before returning to the 1979 NBA Finals and defeating the Washington Bullets in five games for their only NBA title.

He coached in Seattle for eight seasons (1977–1985), winning his (and Seattle's) only NBA championship in 1979.

Cleveland Cavaliers (1986–1993)

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Wilkens would go on to coach the Cleveland Cavaliers from 1986 to 1993.

Atlanta Hawks (1993–2000)

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Wilkens coached the Atlanta Hawks from 1993 to 2000.

Toronto Raptors (2000–2003)

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Wilkens coached the Toronto Raptors from 2000 to 2003.

New York Knicks (2004–2005)

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The Hall of Famer was named head coach of the New York Knicks on January 15, 2004. After the Knicks' slow start to the 2004–05 season, Wilkens resigned from the team on January 22, 2005.

Executive career

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On November 29, 2006, he was hired as vice chairman of the Seattle SuperSonics' ownership group,[10] and was later named the Sonics' President of Basketball Operations on April 27, 2007.[11] On July 6, 2007, Wilkens resigned from the Sonics organization.

Broadcasting career

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Wilkens later worked at Northwest FSN Studio as a college basketball analyst and occasionally appears on College Hoops Northwest at game nights.

Personal life

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Since 1962, Wilkens has been married to Marilyn Reed; they have three children, Leesha, Randy and Jamee. The Wilkens have seven grandchildren, six girls and one boy.

Wilkens is the founder of the Lenny Wilkens Foundation for Children[12] and lives in Medina, Washington.[13] He is a practicing Catholic.

Awards and honors

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NBA

USA Basketball

  • Two-time Olympic gold medal winner:
    • 1992 as an assistant coach with the "Dream Team"
    • 1996 as head coach of the U.S. men's team

Halls of Fame

State/Local

  • City of Seattle renamed Thomas Street to Lenny Wilkens Way.[15]

Organizational

Quotes

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  • "I learned my basketball on the playgrounds of Brooklyn. Today, being a playground player is an insult. It means all you want to do is go one-on-one, it means your fundamentals stink and you don't understand the game. But the playgrounds I knew were tremendous training grounds."
  • "Show people how to have success and then you can push their expectations up."[17]

Head coaching record

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Legend
Regular season G Games coached W Games won L Games lost W–L % Win–loss %
Playoffs PG Playoff games PW Playoff wins PL Playoff losses PW–L % Playoff win–loss %
Team Year G W L W–L% Finish PG PW PL PW–L% Result
Seattle 1969–70 82 36 46 .439 5th in Western — — — — Missed playoffs
Seattle 1970–71 82 38 44 .463 4th in Pacific — — — — Missed playoffs
Seattle 1971–72 82 47 35 .573 3rd in Pacific — — — — Missed playoffs
Portland 1974–75 82 38 44 .463 3rd in Pacific — — — — Missed playoffs
Portland 1975–76 82 37 45 .451 5th in Pacific — — — — Missed playoffs
Seattle 1977–78 60 42 18 .700 3rd in Pacific 22 13 9 .591 Lost in NBA Finals
Seattle 1978–79 82 52 30 .634 1st in Pacific 17 12 5 .706 Won NBA Championship
Seattle 1979–80 82 56 26 .683 2nd in Pacific 15 7 8 .467 Lost in Conf. Finals
Seattle 1980–81 82 34 48 .415 6th in Pacific — — — — Missed playoffs
Seattle 1981–82 82 52 30 .634 2nd in Pacific 8 3 5 .375 Lost in Conf. Semifinals
Seattle 1982–83 82 48 34 .585 3rd in Pacific 2 0 2 .000 Lost in First Round
Seattle 1983–84 82 42 40 .512 3rd in Pacific 5 2 3 .400 Lost in First Round
Seattle 1984–85 82 31 51 .378 5th in Pacific — — — — Missed playoffs
Cleveland 1986–87 82 31 51 .378 4th in Central — — — — Missed playoffs
Cleveland 1987–88 82 42 40 .512 4th in Central 5 2 3 .400 Lost in First Round
Cleveland 1988–89 82 57 25 .695 2nd in Central 5 2 3 .400 Lost in First Round
Cleveland 1989–90 82 42 40 .512 4th in Central 5 2 3 .400 Lost in First Round
Cleveland 1990–91 82 33 49 .402 6th in Central — — — — Missed playoffs
Cleveland 1991–92 82 57 25 .695 2nd in Central 17 9 8 .529 Lost in Conf. Finals
Cleveland 1992–93 82 54 28 .659 2nd in Central 9 3 6 .333 Lost in Conf. Semifinals
Atlanta 1993–94 82 57 25 .695 1st in Central 11 5 6 .455 Lost in Conf. Semifinals
Atlanta 1994–95 82 42 40 .512 5th in Central 3 0 3 .000 Lost in First Round
Atlanta 1995–96 82 46 36 .561 4th in Central 10 4 6 .400 Lost in Conf. Semifinals
Atlanta 1996–97 82 56 26 .683 2nd in Central 10 4 6 .400 Lost in Conf. Semifinals
Atlanta 1997–98 82 50 32 .610 4th in Central 4 1 3 .250 Lost in First Round
Atlanta 1998–99 50 31 19 .620 2nd in Central 9 3 6 .333 Lost in Conf. Semifinals
Atlanta 1999–2000 82 28 54 .341 7th in Central — — — — Missed playoffs
Toronto 2000–01 82 47 35 .573 2nd in Central 12 6 6 .500 Lost in Conf. Semifinals
Toronto 2001–02 82 42 40 .512 3rd in Central 5 2 3 .400 Lost in First Round
Toronto 2002–03 82 24 58 .293 7th in Central — — — — Missed playoffs
New York 2003–04 42 23 19 .548 3rd in Atlantic 4 0 4 .000 Lost in First Round
New York 2004–05 39 17 22 .436 (resigned) — — — — —
Career 2,487 1,332 1,155 .536 178 80 98 .449

NBA career statistics

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Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field goal percentage  3P%  3-point field goal percentage  FT%  Free throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high
 *  Led the league

Regular season

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Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1960–61 St. Louis 74 — 25.3 .425 — .713 4.5 2.8 — — 11.7
1961–62 St. Louis 20 — 43.5 .385 — .764 6.6 5.8 — — 18.2
1962–63 St. Louis 75 — 34.3 .399 — .696 5.4 5.1 — — 11.8
1963–64 St. Louis 78 — 32.4 .413 — .740 4.3 4.6 — — 12.0
1964–65 St. Louis 78 — 36.6 .414 — .746 4.7 5.5 — — 16.5
1965–66 St. Louis 69 — 39.0 .431 — .793 4.7 6.2 — — 18.0
1966–67 St. Louis 78 — 38.1 .432 — .787 5.3 5.7 — — 17.4
1967–68 St. Louis 82 — 38.6 .438 — .768 5.3 8.3 — — 20.0
1968–69 Seattle 82 — 42.2 .440 — .770 6.2 8.2 — — 22.4
1969–70 Seattle 75 — 37.4 .420 — .788 5.0 9.1* — — 17.8
1970–71 Seattle 71 — 37.2 .419 — .803 4.5 9.2 — — 19.8
1971–72 Seattle 80 — 37.4 .466 — .774 4.2 9.6 — — 18.0
1972–73 Cleveland 75 — 39.6 .449 — .828 4.6 8.4 — — 20.5
1973–74 Cleveland 74 — 33.6 .465 — .801 3.7 7.1 1.3 0.2 16.4
1974–75 Portland 65 — 17.9 .439 — .768 1.8 3.6 1.2 0.1 6.5
Career 1,077 — 35.3 .432 — .774 4.7 6.7 1.3 0.2 16.5
All-Star 9 3 20.2 .400 — .781 2.4 2.9 — — 9.4

Playoffs

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Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1961 St. Louis 12 — 36.4 .380 — .759 6.0 3.5 — — 14.2
1963 St. Louis 11 — 36.4 .370 — .755 6.3 6.3 — — 13.7
1964 St. Louis 12 — 34.4 .448 — .759 5.0 5.3 — — 14.3
1965 St. Louis 4 — 36.8 .351 — .828 3.0 3.8 — — 16.0
1966 St. Louis 10 — 39.1 .399 — .687 5.4 7.0 — — 17.1
1967 St. Louis 9 — 42.0 .400 — .856 7.6 7.2 — — 21.4
1968 St. Louis 6 — 39.5 .440 — .750 6.3 7.8 — — 16.1
Career 64 — 37.5 .399 — .769 5.8 5.8 — — 16.1

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "NBA at 50: Top 50 Players". NBA.com. Retrieved March 1, 2022.
  2. ^ "NBA 75". NBA.com. Archived from the original on February 17, 2022. Retrieved March 1, 2022.
  3. ^ "NBA unveils 15 best coaches in league history to celebrate 75th anniversary". Sportsnet.ca. February 8, 2022. Retrieved March 1, 2022.
  4. ^ "Spurs coach Gregg Popovich passes Wilkens for No. 2 on all-time coaching wins list". NBA.com. February 16, 2022. Retrieved February 16, 2022.
  5. ^ Wilkens presented Chuck Daly Lifetime Achievement Award | NBA.com Archived July 14, 2014, at the Wayback Machine
  6. ^ Beck, Howard. "PRO BASKETBALL; Wilkens Denies He Was Asked to Go", The New York Times, September 28, 2005. Accessed November 20, 2007. "A native of Brooklyn's Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood, Wilkens had added motivation to succeed in New York, which made leaving so quickly that much tougher."
  7. ^ a b Smith, Gary (December 5, 1994). "He Has Overcome". Sports Illustrated. Archived from the original on February 13, 2009. Retrieved July 31, 2008.
  8. ^ Gastineau, Mark; Thiel, Art; Rudman, Steve (2009). The Great Book of Seattle Sports Lists. United States: Running Press. pp. 261–262. ISBN 9780762435227.
  9. ^ "NBA 75: At No. 75, Lenny Wilkens was the embodiment of the player as coach on the floor".
  10. ^ Evans, Jayda (December 1, 2006). "Wilkens a Sonic again – as vice chairman". The Seattle Times.
  11. ^ "SONICS: Lenny Wilkens Confirmed as President of Basketball Operations". NBA.com. Archived from the original on May 17, 2007. Retrieved May 19, 2007.
  12. ^ "Lenny Wilkens Foundation". Archived from the original on April 19, 2012. Retrieved April 25, 2012.
  13. ^ Sports | Where are they now? Championship Sonics remain near and far between Seattle Times. Retrieved December 12, 2018.
  14. ^ Boggs, Justin (March 9, 2022). "Cavs add former players, owner, coach to Wall of Honor". Spectrum News 1. Retrieved March 11, 2022.
  15. ^ "Lenny Wilkens: City renames street after former Seattle SuperSonics coach, player". KOMO News. October 28, 2021. Retrieved October 28, 2021.
  16. ^ "Golden Plate Awardees of the American Academy of Achievement". www.achievement.org. American Academy of Achievement.
  17. ^ "Lenny Wilkens Interview (page: 6 / 7)". Academy of Achievement. Archived from the original on October 4, 2013. Retrieved October 4, 2013.
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