"Wilkens was one of the finest point guards of his era who later brought his calm and savvy style to the sideline, first as a player-coach and then evolving into one of the game's great coaches. He coached 2,487 games in the NBA, which is still a record. He became a Hall of Famer as a player, as a coach and again as part of the 1992 U.S. Olympic team on which he was an assistant."
""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," NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said Sunday. "So much so that, four years ago, Lenny received the unique distinction of being named one of the league's 75 greatest players and 15 greatest coaches of all time.""
Lenny Wilkens died at 88, surrounded by loved ones, with no immediate cause of death released. He was a three-time Basketball Hall of Fame inductee: as a player, as a coach and as part of the 1992 U.S. Olympic team on which he was an assistant. Wilkens coached a record 2,487 NBA games, was the first person to reach 1,000 coaching wins and a nine-time All-Star. He led the Seattle SuperSonics to the 1979 NBA title, coached the U.S. to Olympic gold in Atlanta in 1996, and guided the Toronto Raptors from 2000–2003 to two playoff appearances while maintaining a reputation for grace.
Read at www.cbc.ca
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