Lenny Wilkens

Lenny Wilkens
Wilkens in 2013
Personal information
Born (1937-10-28) October 28, 1937 (age 86)
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:
19601968St. Louis Hawks
19681972Seattle SuperSonics
19721974Cleveland Cavaliers
1974–1975Portland Trail Blazers
As coach:
19691972Seattle SuperSonics
19741976Portland Trail Blazers
19771985Seattle SuperSonics
19861993Cleveland Cavaliers
19932000Atlanta Hawks
20002003Toronto Raptors
20042005New 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 Edit this at Wikidata at NBA.com
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
Career coaching record
NBA1332–1155 (.536)
Basketball Hall of Fame as player
Basketball Hall of Fame as coach
College Basketball Hall of Fame
Inducted in 2006
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

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.

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.

  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

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