Lenny Wilkens

Early life

Leonard Randolph Wilkens was born on October 28, 1937, in Brooklyn, New York. His father was African-American and his mother was Irish American. Wilkens was raised in the Catholic faith.

At Boys High School, Wilkens was a basketball teammate of longtime Major League Baseball star Tommy Davis, and played for coach Mickey Fisher.

College career

Wilkens was a two-time All-America (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 26th as of 2011). In 1996, Wilkens's No. 14 jersey was retired by the college, the first alumnus to receive such an honor. In honor of his collegiate accomplishments, Wilkens was one of the inaugural inductees into the College Basketball Hall of Fame in 2006.

Professional playing career

St. Louis Hawks (1960–1968)

Wilkens was drafted sixth overall by the St. Louis Hawks in the 1960 NBA draft. He began his career with eight seasons with the St. Louis Hawks, who lost the finals to the Boston Celtics in his rookie season. The Hawks made the playoffs consistently with Wilkens but never again reached the finals. Wilkens placed second to Wilt Chamberlain in the 1967–1968 MVP balloting, his last with the Hawks.

Seattle SuperSonics (1968–1972)

Wilkens was traded to the Seattle SuperSonics for Walt Hazzard and spent four seasons there. He averaged 22.4 points, 6.2 rebounds, and 8.2 assists per game in his first season for the SuperSonics, and was an All-Star in three of his seasons for them. He was named head coach in his second season with the team. Although the SuperSonics did not reach the playoffs while Wilkens simultaneously coached and started at point guard, their record improved each season and they won 47 games during the 1971–72 NBA season. Wilkens was dealt to the Cleveland Cavaliers before the start of the next season in a highly unpopular trade, and the SuperSonics fell to 26–56 without his leadership on the court.

Cleveland Cavaliers (1972–1974)

Wilkens played two seasons with the Cleveland Cavaliers from 1972 to 1974 and was named an All-Star in 1973, the final selection of his playing career. He averaged 20.5 point per game that season, the last of three seasons in which he averaged over 20+ points per game.

Portland Trail Blazers (1974–1975)

Wilkens played one season with the Portland Trail Blazers, his final season playing, when he averaged career lows in points (6.5), rebounds (1.8), shots (4.7) and minutes per game (17.9).

Legacy

Wilkens scored 17,772 points during the regular season, was a nine-time NBA All-Star, and was named the 1971 NBA All-Star Game MVP in 1971. With Seattle, he led the league in assists in the 1969–70 season, and at the time of his retirement was the NBA's second all-time leader in that category, behind only Oscar Robertson. In 2021, to commemorate the NBA's 75th Anniversary The Athletic ranked their top 75 players of all time, and named Wilkens as the 75th greatest player in NBA history.

Coaching career

Seattle SuperSonics (1969–1972)

Wilkens became a player-coach in the closing stages of his playing career, serving both roles for the Seattle SuperSonics from 1969 to 1972. Al Bianchi had resigned as their head coach in the middle of the 1969 offseason when general manager Dick Vertlieb presented the idea to Wilkens. "I told him he was crazy", said Wilkens. “And he said 'Well, you run the show anyway'. He became the second Black coach in NBA history, joining Bill Russell, who had also been a player-coach.

Portland Trail Blazers (1974–1976)

In his one season as a player with the Portland Trail Blazers, Wilkens was a player-coach. He had been considering retiring from playing when Trail Blazers owner Herman Sarkowsky convinced him to coach the team. To Wilkens's surprise, Portland also acquried his playing rights from Cleveland. He retired from playing in 1975 and was the full-time coach of the Trail Blazers for one more season.

Seattle SuperSonics (1977–1985)

After a season off from coaching, he again became coach of the SuperSonics when he replaced Bob Hopkins who was fired 22 games into the 1977–78 season after a dismal 5–17 start. The SuperSonics won 11 of their first 12 games under Wilkens. They made the playoffs in back-to-back years, losing in seven games to the Washington Bullets in the 1978 NBA Finals before returning to the 1979 NBA Finals and defeating the Washington Bullets in five games for their only NBA title.

He coached in Seattle for eight seasons (1977–1985), winning his (and Seattle's) only NBA championship in 1979.

Cleveland Cavaliers (1986–1993)

Wilkens coached the Cleveland Cavaliers from 1986 to 1993. His tenure with Cleveland was highlighted by three 50-win seasons, including a then-franchise record 57 victories in both the 1988–89 and 1991–92 seasons. In the second of those seasons, the Cavaliers reached the Eastern Conference Finals for only the second time in franchise history. Cleveland qualified for the playoffs in five of Wilkens's seven seasons. His 316 career wins with the Cavaliers are a franchise record.

Atlanta Hawks (1993–2000)

On June 2, 1993, Wilkens was hired as the head coach of the Atlanta Hawks. In Wilkens's first season, the Hawks tied a then-franchise record with 57 wins, earning the top seed in the Eastern Conference. However, the Hawks traded their superstar Dominique Wilkins midway through the season for Danny Manning, leading to a second-round defeat to the Indiana Pacers. On January 6, 1995, Wilkens won his 939th career regular season game to surpass Red Auerbach as the all-time winningest coach in NBA history, a record he would hold for nearly 15 seasons. In 1997, his contract was extended to two years and $10.4 million dollars. The Hawks never advanced past the second round during the Wilkens era despite six consecutive playoff berths and three 50-win seasons. On April 24, 2000, he resigned as head coach following a 28–54 record.

Toronto Raptors (2000–2003)

In June 2000, Wilkens signed a four-year, $20 million dollar contract to become head coach of the Toronto Raptors, replacing Butch Carter. In his first season at the helm, he led the Raptors franchise to their first playoff series win, defeating the New York Knicks in the first round. Wilkens and the team parted ways after a disappointing and injury riddled 2002–03 season where they finished with a 24–58 record.

New York Knicks (2004–2005)

The Hall of Famer was named head coach of the New York Knicks on January 15, 2004, after the team started 15–24 under Don Chaney. After the Knicks' slow start to the 2004–05 season, Wilkens resigned from the team on January 22, 2005.

Executive career

After Seattle finished 31–51 in 1984–85, team owner Barry Ackerley fired Wilkens as coach and moved him to general manager. During his stint as GM, he drafted future All-Star Xavier McDaniel, and hired head coach Bernie Bickerstaff. Wilkens left Seattle in 1986 to become Cleveland's head coach.

On November 29, 2006, Wilkens was hired as vice chairman of the SuperSonics' ownership group, and was later named the Sonics' President of Basketball Operations on April 27, 2007. On July 6, 2007, Wilkens resigned from the Sonics organization. "I feel that my position within the organization did not develop the way that I thought it would", he said.

Broadcasting career

Wilkens briefly worked at Fox Sports Northwest's studio as a college basketball analyst.

Personal life and death

Wilkens was married to Marilyn Reed from 1962 until his death in 2025; they had three children, Leesha, Randy and Jamee. The Wilkens had seven grandchildren, six girls and one boy.

Wilkens was the founder of the Lenny Wilkens Foundation for Children and lived in Medina, Washington. He was a practicing Catholic. Wilkens died at his home on November 9, 2025, at the age of 88.

Awards and honors

NBA

• 1979 NBA champion (as head coach of Seattle)
• 13-time NBA All-Star
  • nine times as a player
  • four times as a head coach
• 1971 NBA All-Star Game MVP
• 1994 NBA Coach of the Year
• 2011 Chuck Daly Lifetime Achievement Award
• No. 19 retired by Seattle SuperSonics (carried over to the Oklahoma City Thunder)
• Top 10 Coaches in NBA History (NBA 50th Anniversary)
• Top 15 Coaches in NBA History (NBA 75th Anniversary)

USA Basketball

• Two-time coach of Olympic gold medal winning team:
  • 1992 as an assistant coach with the "Dream Team"
  • 1996 as head coach of the U.S. men's team Halls of Fame
• Three-time Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductee
  • class of 1989 as a player
  • class of 1998 as a coach
  • class of 2010 as a member of the "Dream Team"
• Cleveland Cavaliers Wall of Honor (class of 2022)
• U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame (class of 2009 – as a member of the "Dream Team")
• FIBA Hall of Fame (class of 2017 – as a member of the "Dream Team")
• College Basketball Hall of Fame (class of 2006)
• Providence College Hall of Fame (1972)

State/Local

• City of Seattle renamed Thomas Street to Lenny Wilkens Way.
• A statue outside Climate Pledge Arena was installed on Lenny Wilkens Way in 2025.

Organizational

• 1999 Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement

NBA career statistics

Source:

Regular season

|- | 74 || || 25.3 || .425 || || .713 || 4.5 || 2.8 || || || 11.7 |- | 20 || || 43.5 || .385 || || .764 || 6.6 || 5.8 || || || 18.2 |- | 75 || || 34.3 || .399 || || .696 || 5.4 || 5.1 || || || 11.8 |- | 78 || || 32.4 || .413 || || .740 || 4.3 || 4.6 || || || 12.0 |- | 78 || || 36.6 || .414 || || .746 || 4.7 || 5.5 || || || 16.5 |- | 69 || || 39.0 || .431 || || .793 || 4.7 || 6.2 || || || 18.0 |- | 78 || || 38.1 || .432 || || .787 || 5.3 || 5.7 || || || 17.4 |- | 82 || || 38.6 || .438 || || .768 || 5.3 || 8.3 || || || 20.0 |- | 82 || || 42.2 || .440 || || .770 || 6.2 || 8.2 || || || 22.4 |- | 75 || || 37.4 || .420 || || .788 || 5.0 ||style="background:#cfecec;"| 9.1* || || || 17.8 |- | 71 || || 37.2 || .419 || || .803 || 4.5 || 9.2 || || || 19.8 |- | 80 || || 37.4 || .466 || || .774 || 4.2 || 9.6 || || || 18.0 |- | 75 || || 39.6 || .449 || || .828 || 4.6 || 8.4 || || || 20.5 |- | 74 || || 33.6 || .465 || || .801 || 3.7 || 7.1 || 1.3 || 0.2 || 16.4 |- | 65 || || 17.9 || .439 || || .768 || 1.8 || 3.6 || 1.2 || 0.1 || 6.5 |- class="sortbottom" | 1,077 || || 35.3 || .432 || || .774 || 4.7 || 6.7 || 1.3 || 0.2 || 16.5 |- class="sortbottom" | 9 || 3 || 20.2 || .400 || || .781 || 2.4 || 2.9 || || || 9.4

Playoffs

|- |12||||36.4||.380||||.759||6.0||3.5||||||14.2 |- |11||||36.4||.370||||.755||6.3||6.3||||||13.7 |- |12||||34.4||.448||||.759||5.0||5.3||||||14.3 |- |4||||36.8||.351||||.828||3.0||3.8||||||16.0 |- |10||||39.1||.399||||.687||5.4||7.0||||||17.1 |- |9||||42.0||.400||||.856||7.6||7.2||||||21.4 |- |6||||39.5||.440||||.750||6.3||7.8||||||16.1 |- class="sortbottom" | 64 || || 37.5 || .399 || || .769 || 5.8 || 5.8 || || || 16.1

Head coaching record

|- |82||36||46|||| style="text-align:center;"|5th in Western|||—||—||—||— |- |82||38||44|||| style="text-align:center;"|4th in Pacific|||—||—||—||— |- |82||47||35|||| style="text-align:center;"|3rd in Pacific|||—||—||—||— |- |82||38||44|||| style="text-align:center;"|3rd in Pacific|||—||—||—||— |- |82||37||45|||| style="text-align:center;"|5th in Pacific|||—||—||—||— |- |60||42||18|||| style="text-align:center;"|3rd in Pacific|||22||13||9|| |- ! style="background:#FDE910;" |82||52||30|||| style="text-align:center;"|1st in Pacific|||17||12||5|| |- |82||56||26|||| style="text-align:center;"|2nd in Pacific|||15||7||8|| |- |82||34||48|||| style="text-align:center;"|6th in Pacific|||—||—||—||— |- |82||52||30|||| style="text-align:center;"|2nd in Pacific|||8||3||5|| |- |82||48||34|||| style="text-align:center;"|3rd in Pacific|||2||0||2|| |- |82||42||40|||| style="text-align:center;"|3rd in Pacific|||5||2||3|| |- |82||31||51|||| style="text-align:center;"|5th in Pacific|||—||—||—||— |- |82||31||51|||| style="text-align:center;"|4th in Central|||—||—||—||— |- |82||42||40|||| style="text-align:center;"|4th in Central|||5||2||3|| |- |82||57||25|||| style="text-align:center;"|2nd in Central|||5||2||3|| |- |82||42||40|||| style="text-align:center;"|4th in Central|||5||2||3|| |- |82||33||49|||| style="text-align:center;"|6th in Central|||—||—||—||— |- |82||57||25|||| style="text-align:center;"|2nd in Central|||17||9||8|| |- |82||54||28|||| style="text-align:center;"|2nd in Central|||9||3||6|| |- |82||57||25|||| style="text-align:center;"|1st in Central|||11||5||6|| |- |82||42||40|||| style="text-align:center;"|5th in Central|||3||0||3|| |- |82||46||36|||| style="text-align:center;"|4th in Central|||10||4||6|| |- |82||56||26|||| style="text-align:center;"|2nd in Central|||10||4||6|| |- |82||50||32|||| style="text-align:center;"|4th in Central|||4||1||3|| |- |50||31||19|||| style="text-align:center;"|2nd in Central|||9||3||6|| |- |82||28||54|||| style="text-align:center;"|7th in Central|||—||—||—||— |- |82||47||35|||| style="text-align:center;"|2nd in Central|||12||6||6|| |- |82||42||40|||| style="text-align:center;"|3rd in Central|||5||2||3|| |- |82||24||58|||| style="text-align:center;"|7th in Central|||—||—||—||— |- |42||23||19|||| style="text-align:center;"|3rd in Atlantic|||4||0||4|| |- |39||17||22|||| style="text-align:center;"|(resigned)|||—||—||—||— |- class="sortbottom" | ||style="background:#E0CEF2;"|2,487*||1,332||1,155|||| ||178||80||98|||| |-

Publications

References

References

1. "NBA at 50: Top 50 Players". NBA.com.
2. "NBA 75". NBA.com.
3. (February 8, 2022). "NBA unveils 15 best coaches in league history to celebrate 75th anniversary". Sportsnet.ca.
4. (February 16, 2022). "Spurs coach Gregg Popovich passes Wilkens for No. 2 on all-time coaching wins list".
5. [http://www.nba.com/2011/news/06/05/wilkens-awards/ Wilkens presented Chuck Daly Lifetime Achievement Award. NBA.com] {{webarchive. link. (July 14, 2014)
6. Wilkens grew up in the [[Bedford–Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. Bedford–Stuyvesant]] neighborhood of Brooklyn.Beck, Howard. [https://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/28/sports/basketball/28knicks.html "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."
7. Smith, Gary. (December 5, 1994). "He Has Overcome".
8. Deford, Frank. (November 24, 1969). "SWEETY CAKES RUNS THE SONICS". [[Sports Illustrated]].
9. (April 17, 1963). "MICKEY FISHER, BROOKLYN COACH; Sports Director, Formerly of Boys High, Dies at 58". [[New York Times]].
10. (December 21, 2021). "Sports Heroes Who Served: One of Basketball's Greatest Also Served in the Army". U.S. Department of Defense.
11. (June 10, 2011). "Former Friar Great Lenny Wilkens '60 Receives NBA Lifetime Achievement Award".
12. (June 11, 2015). "Lenny Wilkens was exceptional as a player and as a coach". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
13. "FOUNDING CLASS MEMBERS". The College Basketball Experience.
14. (January 24, 2025). "The Forgotten History of the NBA Player-Coach".
15. "Legends profile: Lenny Wilkens".
16. (2009). "The Great Book of Seattle Sports Lists". Running Press.
17. (November 1, 2021). "NBA 75: At No. 75, Lenny Wilkens was the embodiment of the player as coach on the floor".
18. (December 1, 1977). "Wilkens Named Sonics' Coach Again". The New York Times.
19. (February 1, 2014). "Seattle's Last Title: SuperSonics' 1979 NBA Finals Win over Washington Bullets".
20. (June 2, 1993). "Wilkens named coach of Hawks". Tampa Bay Times.
21. (January 6, 2025). "This Day In Sports: The cigar was at the ready for Lenny". KTVB7 News.
22. (April 25, 2000). "Wilkens steps down after 28-54 season".
23. (June 21, 2000). "Wilkens named Toronto's coach".
24. (April 17, 2003). "Raptors part ways with Wilkens".
25. (January 14, 2004). "Chaney, Malone, Kruger fired; Wilkens hired".
26. (January 23, 2005). "Knicks' Downward Spiral Takes Down Wilkens". The New York Times.
27. (June 19, 1985). "Bickerstaff to land Sonic job?". Kitsap Sun.
28. Graeff, Burt. (January 2, 1991). "McDaniel bolsters Phoenix". The Plain-Dealer.
29. DuPree, David. (June 21, 1985). "Bickerstaff gets long-awaited chance at Seattle". USA Today.
30. (July 9, 1986). "Wilkens accepts new challenge". Kitsap Sun.
31. Evans, Jayda. (December 1, 2006). "Wilkens a Sonic again – as vice chairman". The Seattle Times.
32. "SONICS: Lenny Wilkens Confirmed as President of Basketball Operations".
33. (July 7, 2007). "Wilkens resigns as Sonics vice chair". The Daily Herald.
34. (June 15, 2007). "Wilkens' implication he was in charge led to demotion". Seatllepi.
35. "Lenny Wilkens Foundation".
36. [https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/20031027/where27/where-are-they-now-championship-sonics-remain-near-and-far-between Sports. Where are they now? Championship Sonics remain near and far between] Seattle Times. Retrieved December 12, 2018.
37. Pluto, Terry. (November 10, 2025). "When I played 2-on-2 basketball with Lenny Wilkens – Terry Pluto". Cleveland.com.
38. "Lenny Wilkens". Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.
39. Goldstein, Richard. (November 9, 2025). "Lenny Wilkens, N.B.A. Hall of Famer as Both Player and Coach, Dies at 88". The New York Times.
40. "Oklahoma City Thunder Team Info and News".
41. "In Memory: Lenny Wilkens". Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.
42. Ulrich, Nate. (November 9, 2025). "Cavs icon Lenny Wilkens, Hall of Fame coach, player who loved Richfield days, dies at 88". Akron Beacon Journal.
43. Boggs, Justin. (March 9, 2022). "Cavs add former players, owner, coach to Wall of Honor". Spectrum News 1.
44. (February 12, 2010). "Utah Jazz: Karl Malone, '92 Dream Team finalists for '10 Hall of Fame class". Deseret News.
45. "the Dream Team (USA)". FIBA.
46. "2018-19 Men's Basketball Media Guide".
47. (October 28, 2021). "Lenny Wilkens: City renames street after former Seattle SuperSonics coach, player".
48. Pelton, Kevin. (June 28, 2025). "Lenny Wilkens 1st to have statue outside Climate Pledge Arena". ESPN.
49. "Golden Plate Awardees of the American Academy of Achievement". [[American Academy of Achievement]].
50. "Lenny Wilkens: Coachong Record, Awards". Basketball Reference.