Lenny
Wilkins
Leonard
(Lenny) Randolph Wilkens (born October 28, 1937, in Brooklyn,
New York, U.S.) is an American former National Basketball
Association player and coach, as well as the NBA's career
leader in coaching win-loss totals. On November 29, 2006
he was hired as vice chairman of the Seattle SuperSonics'
ownership group.
Playing
career
Wilkens was a high school basketball teammate of longtime Major League Baseball
star Tommy Davis. Wilkens was a two-time All-American (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 twentieth as of 2005). In 1996,
Wilkens' #14 jersey was retired by the college, the only alumnus to receive such
an honor.
Wilkens was drafted sixth
overall by the St. Louis Hawks in the 1960 NBA Draft. He played
for the Hawks (1960-1968), Seattle SuperSonics (1968-1972), Cleveland
Cavaliers (1972-1974) and Portland Trail Blazers (1974-1975).
Wilkens placed second
to Wilt Chamberlain in the 1967-1968 MVP balloting. Wilkens was
a nine-time NBA All-Star, and was named the All-Star Game MVP in
1971. He led the league in assists in the 1969-70 season, and at
the time of his retirement, Wilkens was the NBA's second all-time
leading playmaker behind only Oscar Robertson.
Coaching career
From 1969–1972 with Seattle, and in his one season with Portland, he
was player-coach.
He retired from
playing in 1975 and was the full-time coach of the Trail Blazers
for one more season. After a season off, in 1977 he again became
coach of the SuperSonics, where he coached for eight seasons (1977-1985),
winning his (and for that matter, Seattle's) only NBA Championship
in 1979. He would go on to coach Cleveland (1987–1993), Atlanta
(1993–2000), Toronto (2000–2003) and New York (2004–2005).
The Hall of Famer
was named head coach of the New York Knicks on January 15, 2004.
After the Knicks' slow start to the 2004-2005 campaign, Wilkens
resigned from the team on January 22, 2005.
Accomplishments
He retired with 1,332 wins, the most in NBA history (he passed Red Auerbach
on January 6, 1995 with a win against the Washington Bullets), and 1,155 losses,
also the most in NBA history (he passed Bill Fitch in 2001). He is considered
to be among the top coaches in the history of the Cavaliers, Hawks, Raptors,
and SuperSonics.
He coached the
Olympic Champion Men's Basketball team.
Wilkens is one
of three players to be inducted to the Basketball Hall of Fame
as both a player and a coach (the other two being John Wooden and
Bill Sharman), joining the Hall in 1989 as a player and 1998 as
a coach. He is also a member of the Providence College Athletic
Hall of Fame.
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Lenny Wilkens. (2007, January 3). In Wikipedia, The
Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 05:11, January 12, 2007, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Lenny_Wilkens&oldid=98231750 |
