Lenny Wilkens
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Position | Point guard |
|---|---|
| Height | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) |
| Weight | 180 lb (82 kg) |
| Nationality | USA |
| Born | October 28 1937 Brooklyn, New York City |
| College | Providence |
| Draft | 1st Round, 6th overall, 1960 St. Louis Hawks |
| Pro career | 1960–1975 |
| Former teams | Hawks (1960−1968) Sonics (1968−1972) Cavaliers (1972−1974) Blazers (1974−1975) |
| Awards | Nine-time All-Star All-Star Game MVP (1972) NBA's 50th Anniversary All-Time Team |
| Hall of Fame | 1989 (as player) 1998 (as coach) |
Leonard Randolph "Lenny" 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. He was inducted twice into the Basketball Hall of Fame, first in 1989 as a player and then later as a coach in 1998.
On November 29, 2006 he was hired as vice chairman of the Seattle SuperSonics' ownership group,[1] and was later named the Sonics' President of Basketball Operations on April 27, 2007.[2] On July 6, 2007 Wilkens resigned from the Sonics organization.
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[edit] Early life
Wilkens grew up in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn.[3]
At Boys High School, Wilkens was a basketball teammate of longtime Major League Baseball star Tommy Davis.
[edit] Playing career
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.
[edit] Coaching career
From 1969–1972 with Seattle, and in his one season with Portland, 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. After a season off, in 1977 he again became coach of the SuperSonics, where he coached for eight seasons (1977-1985), winning his (and 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 season, Wilkens resigned from the team on January 22, 2005.
[edit] 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 into 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.
Wilkens is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha, the first intercollegiate Greek-letter fraternity established for African Americans.
[edit] Quotes
- "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."
[edit] Coaching record
| Team | Year | Regular Season | Post Season | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Won | Lost | Win % | Finish | Won | Lost | Win % | Result | ||
| SEA | 1969/70 | 36 | 46 | .439 | 5th in Western Division | ||||
| SEA | 1970/71 | 38 | 44 | .463 | 4th in Pacific Division | ||||
| SEA | 1971/72 | 47 | 35 | .573 | 3rd in Pacific Division | ||||
| POR | 1974/75 | 38 | 44 | .451 | 3rd in Pacific Division | ||||
| POR | 1975/76 | 37 | 45 | .451 | 5th in Pacific Division | ||||
| SEA | 1977/78 | 42 | 18 | .700 | 3rd in Pacific Division | 13 | 9 | .591 | NBA Finals |
| SEA | 1978/79 | 52 | 30 | .634 | 1st in Pacific Division | 12 | 5 | .706 | NBA Championship |
| SEA | 1979/80 | 56 | 26 | .683 | 2nd in Pacific Division | 7 | 8 | .467 | Conf. Finals |
| SEA | 1980/81 | 34 | 48 | .415 | 6th in Pacific Division | ||||
| SEA | 1981/82 | 52 | 30 | .634 | 2nd in Pacific Division | 3 | 5 | .375 | Conf. Semifinals |
| SEA | 1982/83 | 48 | 34 | .585 | 3rd in Pacific Division | 0 | 2 | .000 | 1st Round |
| SEA | 1983/84 | 42 | 40 | .512 | 3rd in Pacific Division | 2 | 3 | .400 | 1st Round |
| SEA | 1984/85 | 31 | 51 | .378 | 5th in Pacific Division | ||||
| CLE | 1986/87 | 31 | 51 | .378 | 4th in Central Division | ||||
| CLE | 1987/88 | 42 | 40 | .512 | 4th in Central Division | 2 | 3 | .400 | 1st Round |
| CLE | 1988/89 | 57 | 25 | .695 | 2nd in Central Division | 2 | 3 | .400 | 1st Round |
| CLE | 1989/90 | 42 | 40 | .512 | 4th in Central Division | 2 | 3 | .400 | 1st Round |
| CLE | 1990/91 | 33 | 49 | .402 | 6th in Central Division | ||||
| CLE | 1991/92 | 57 | 25 | .695 | 2nd in Central Division | 9 | 8 | .529 | Conf. Finals |
| CLE | 1992/93 | 54 | 28 | .659 | 2nd in Central Division | 3 | 6 | .333 | Conf. Semifinals |
| ATL | 1993/94 | 57 | 25 | .695 | 1st in Central Division | 5 | 6 | .455 | Conf. Semifinals |
| ATL | 1994/95 | 42 | 40 | .512 | 5th in Central Division | 0 | 3 | .000 | 1st Round |
| ATL | 1995/96 | 46 | 36 | .561 | 4th in Central Division | 4 | 6 | .400 | Conf. Semifinals |
| ATL | 1996/97 | 56 | 26 | .683 | 2nd in Central Division | 4 | 6 | .400 | Conf. Semifinals |
| ATL | 1997/98 | 50 | 32 | .610 | 4th in Central Division | 1 | 3 | .250 | 1st Round |
| ATL | 1998/99 | 31 | 19 | .620 | 2nd in Central Division | 3 | 6 | .333 | Conf. Semifinals |
| ATL | 1999/00 | 28 | 54 | .341 | 7th in Central Division | ||||
| TOR | 2000/01 | 47 | 35 | .573 | 2nd in Central Division | 6 | 6 | .500 | Conf. Semifinals |
| TOR | 2001/02 | 42 | 40 | .512 | 3rd in Central Division | 2 | 3 | .400 | |
| TOR | 2002/03 | 24 | 58 | .293 | 7th in Central Division | ||||
| NYK | 2003/04 | 23 | 19 | .548 | 3rd in Atlantic Division | 0 | 4 | .000 | |
| NYK | 2004/05 | 17 | 22 | .436 | 5th in Atlantic Division | ||||
| 32 seasons | 1332 | 1155 | .536 | - | 80 | 98 | .449 | - | |
Source: Lenny Wilkens Coaching Record – Basketball-Reference.com
[edit] References
- ^ http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/sonics/2003456119_soni01.html
- ^ http://www.nba.com/sonics/news/wilkens070427.html
- ^ 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."
[edit] External links
- Basketball-Reference.com: Lenny Wilkens (as player)
- Basketball-Reference.com: Lenny Wilkens (as coach)
| Preceded by Willis Reed | NBA All-Star Game Most Valuable Player 1971 | Succeeded by Jerry West |
Image:Med 1.png 1996 Olympic Champions Men's Basketball – United States Image:Med 1.png |
|---|
| Charles Barkley | Penny Hardaway | Grant Hill | Karl Malone | Reggie Miller | Hakeem Olajuwon | Shaquille O'Neal | Gary Payton | Scottie Pippen | Mitch Richmond | David Robinson | John Stockton | Coach: Lenny Wilkens |
| Preceded by Al Bianchi | Seattle SuperSonics Head Coach 1969–1972 | Succeeded by Tom Nissalke |
| Preceded by Jack McCloskey | Portland Trail Blazers Head Coach 1974–1976 | Succeeded by Jack Ramsay |
| Preceded by Bob Hopkins | Seattle SuperSonics Head Coach 1977–1985 | Succeeded by Bernie Bickerstaff |
| Preceded by Gene Littles | Cleveland Cavaliers Head Coach 1986–1993 | Succeeded by Mike Fratello |
| Preceded by Bob Weiss | Atlanta Hawks Head Coach 1993–2000 | Succeeded by Lon Kruger |
| Preceded by Butch Carter | Toronto Raptors Head Coach 2000–2003 | Succeeded by Kevin O'Neill |
| Preceded by Herb Williams (interim) | New York Knicks Head Coach 2004–2005 | Succeeded by Herb Williams (interim) |
Seattle SuperSonics Head Coaches |
|---|
| Bianchi • Wilkens • Nissalke • Buckwalter • Russell • Hopkins • Wilkens • Bickerstaff • Jones • Karl • Westphal • McMillan • Weiss • Hill • Carlesimo |
Portland Trail Blazers Head Coaches |
|---|
| Todd • Inman • McCloskey • Wilkens (player-coach) • Ramsay • Schuler • Adelman • Carlesimo • Dunleavy • Cheeks • Pritchard • McMillan |
Cleveland Cavaliers Head Coaches |
|---|
| Fitch • Albeck • Musselman • Delaney • Kloppenburg • Daly • Musselman • Nissalke • Karl • Littles • Wilkens • Fratello • Wittman • Lucas • Smart • Silas • Malone • Brown |
Tri-Cities Blackhawks/Milwaukee/St. Louis/Atlanta Hawks Head Coaches |
|---|
| Potter • Auerbach • McMillan • Logan • Todorovich • Moore • Levane • Holzman • Martin • Hannum • Phillip • Macauley • Seymour • Levane • Pettit • Gallatin • Guerin • Fitzsimmons • Tormohlen • Brown • Fratello • Loughery • Fratello • Weiss • Wilkens • Kruger • Stotts • Woodson |
Toronto Raptors Head Coaches |
|---|
| Malone • Walker • Carter • Wilkens • O'Neill • Mitchell |
New York Knicks Head Coaches |
|---|
| Cohalan • Lapchick • Boryla • Levane • Braun • Donovan • Gallatin • McGuire • Holzman • Reed • Holzman • H. Brown • Hill • Pitino • Jackson • MacLeod • Riley • Nelson • Van Gundy • Chaney • Williams • Wilkens • Williams • L. Brown • Thomas |
Seattle SuperSonics 1978-79 NBA Champions |
|---|
| 21 Awtrey • 32 Brown • 22 Hansen • 10 Hassett • 24 D. Johnson (Finals MVP) • 27 J. Johnson • 23 LaGarde • 22 Robinson • 8 Shelton • 43 Sikma • 35 Silas • 11 Snyder • 42 Walker • 1 Williams • Coach Wilkens |
Top Ten Coaches in NBA History |
|---|
| Red Auerbach • Chuck Daly • Bill Fitch • Red Holzman • Phil Jackson • John Kundla • Don Nelson • Jack Ramsay • Pat Riley • Lenny Wilkens |
| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| NAME | Wilkens, Lenny |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | |
| SHORT DESCRIPTION | American basketball player and coach |
| DATE OF BIRTH | October 28, 1937 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Brooklyn, N.Y.C., New York |
| DATE OF DEATH | |
| PLACE OF DEATH | |
es:Lenny Wilkens fr:Lenny Wilkens id:Lenny Wilkens it:Lenny Wilkens lt:Lenny Wilkens ja:レニー・ウィルケンズ pl:Lenny Wilkens fi:Lenny Wilkens zh:兰尼·威尔肯斯
Categories: 1937 births | Living people | Basketball Hall of Fame | People from Brooklyn | National Basketball Association executives | National Basketball Association broadcasters | African American sportspeople | American basketball players | Providence Friars men's basketball players | Providence College alumni | Cleveland Cavaliers players | Portland Trail Blazers players | Seattle SuperSonics players | St. Louis Hawks players | American basketball coaches | Seattle SuperSonics coaches | Portland Trail Blazers coaches | Cleveland Cavaliers coaches | Atlanta Hawks coaches | Toronto Raptors coaches | New York Knicks coaches | Player-coaches | Point guards
