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Lenny Wilkens, inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame as a player and coach, died Sunday at age 88.
Wilkens, who played 15 years in the NBA – including four seasons as a player-coach – was one of five men to be enshrined in the Hall of Fame in both roles. The others were John Wooden, Bill Sharman, Tom Heinsohn and Bill Russell.
“Lenny Wilkens represented the best of the NBA – as a Hall of Fame player, a Hall of Fame coach and one of the game’s most respected ambassadors,” NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said in a statement. “So much so that four years ago, Lenny was given the unique distinction of being named one of the league’s 75 greatest players and 15 greatest coaches of all time.”
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Lenny Wilkens of the Portland Trail Blazers watches the Washington Bullets during an NBA basketball game circa 1975 at the Capital Center in Landover, Maryland. Wilkens played for the Trail Blazers from 1974 to 1975. (Focus on sport/Getty Images)
Wilkens made nine NBA All-Star teams during his playing career and twice led the league in assists. Standing just over six feet tall, he broke into the league after a stellar career at Providence College, where he helped the Friars earn their first NIT appearance in 1959 and a berth in the NIT finals in 1960.
A two-time All-American at Providence, Wilkens became the first player in school history to have his jersey retired, in 1996.
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Wilkens was selected by the St. Louis Hawks in the first round of the 1960 NBA draft. He played in only 20 games during his second season after serving in the military, but upon his return full time he became a cornerstone of the Hawks.
St. Louis reached the playoffs six straight seasons with Wilkens, a Brooklyn native who didn’t play high school basketball until his senior year. He made five All-Star teams during that span and averaged 15.5 points, 5.5 assists and 4.9 rebounds in 555 games over eight seasons with the Hawks.
Lenny Wilkens, coach of the 1979 Seattle Supersonics basketball team, greets the crowd before a game between the two, at T-Mobile Park on June 1, 2019 in Seattle, Washington, during the ceremony celebrating the 40th anniversary of the team’s championship. (Stephen Brashear/Getty Images)
The Hawks traded Wilkens to the expansion Seattle SuperSonics in 1968, where he thrived. He averaged 22.4 points, 8.2 assists and 6.2 rebounds in his first season, then led the league in assists (9.1) the following year.
Before the 1969-70 season, SuperSonics general manager Dick Vertlieb named Wilkens player-manager. He helped set the tone on and off the field, guiding Seattle to its first winning season in his third year in the dual role.
The smooth southpaw continued to rack up assists in Seattle, then spent two seasons with the Cleveland Cavaliers and finished his career with the Portland Trail Blazers in 1974-75.
Wilkens ranks 17th on the NBA’s all-time assists list with 7,211 assists in 1,077 games.
NBA legend Lenny Wilkens attends the Rain City Showcase game between the Portland Trail Blazers and the LA Clippers at Climate Pledge Arena on October 11, 2024 in Seattle, Washington. (Alika Jenner/Getty Images)
He also served as a player-coach at Portland before becoming a full-time coach. Wilkens then returned to Seattle for the 1977-78 season, leading the SuperSonics to the NBA Finals, where they defeated the Washington Bullets for the franchise’s first and only championship.
Wilkens went on to coach the Cavaliers, Atlanta Hawks, Toronto Raptors and New York Knicks, compiling a record of 1,332-1,155 (.536) in 2,487 regular season games. His playoff record was 80-98.
