Lenny Wilkens, a Hall of Fame Basketball player and coach, has passed away. He was 88.
According to The Athletic, “his family says he passed away peacefully at home, surrounded by loved ones.”
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver released a statement paying tribute to Wilkens.
“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, “Silver said.
Born on Oct. 28, 1937, in Brooklyn, Wilkens, an avid Dodgers fan, once delivered groceries to legendary Jackie Robinson.
A high school standout, Wilkens earned a scholarship from Providence College, where he was a two-time All-American.
As an NBA player, Wilkens was a nine-time NBA All-Star and the 1971 All-Star Game MVP. He was named one of the NBA’s 50 Greatest Players (1996) and 75 Greatest Players (2021). Wilkens played with the St. Louis Hawks, the Seattle Supersonics, and the Cleveland Cavaliers. Known as a basketball savant, Wilkens finished his 15-season career with 17,772 points and 7,211 assists.
As a coach, Wilkens holds the NBA record for most games coached (2,487) and retired with 1,332 wins, ranking third all-time. In 1979, he led the Seattle SuperSonics to their only NBA Championship. He was the 1994 NBA Coach of the Year and also coached the U.S. Olympic team to a gold medal in 1996. Wilkens is the only person to be named to both the NBA 75th Anniversary Teams for players and coaches.
Wilkens was also an assistant coach of the 1992 Dream Team and led the 1996 team to the gold medal.
He then went on to coach the Toronto Raptors and New York Knicks before he resigned from the Knicks in 2005.
Off the court, Wilkens served the Seattle community with the Lenny Wilkens Foundation, which “championed community service and youth development.”