Hall of Famer Lenny Wilkens, who
coached the most games in NBA history, dies at 88
[November 10, 2025]
By TIM BOOTH and ANDREW DESTIN
SEATTLE (AP) — Lenny Wilkens, a three-time inductee into the
Basketball Hall of Fame who was enshrined as both a player and a
coach, has died, his family said Sunday. He was 88.
The family said Wilkens was surrounded by loved ones when he died
and did not immediately release a cause of death.
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. Wilkens
coached the Americans to gold at the Atlanta Games as well in 1996.
“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.”
Wilkens was a nine-time All-Star as a player, was the first person
to reach 1,000 wins as an NBA coach and was the second person
inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame as a player and coach. He
coached the Seattle SuperSonics to the NBA title in 1979 and
remained iconic in that city for the rest of his life, often being
considered a godfather of sorts for basketball in Seattle — which
lost the Sonics to Oklahoma City in 2008 and has been trying to get
a team back since.
And he did it all with grace, something he was proud of.
“Leaders don’t yell and scream,” Wilkens told Seattle’s KOMO News
earlier this year.
Wilkens, the 1994 NBA coach of the year with Atlanta, retired with
1,332 coaching wins — a league record that was later passed by Don
Nelson (who retired with 1,335) and then Gregg Popovich ( who
retired with 1,390).
Wilkens played 15 seasons with the St. Louis Hawks, SuperSonics,
Cleveland Cavaliers and Portland Trail Blazers. He was an All-Star
five times with St. Louis, three times in Seattle and once with
Cleveland in 1973 at age 35. A statue depicting his time with the
SuperSonics was installed outside Climate Pledge Arena in June.
“Even more impressive than Lenny’s basketball accomplishments, which
included two Olympic gold medals and an NBA championship, was his
commitment to service — especially in his beloved community of
Seattle where a statue stands in his honor,” Silver said. “He
influenced the lives of countless young people as well as
generations of players and coaches who considered Lenny not only a
great teammate or coach but also an extraordinary mentor who led
with integrity and true class.”
Leonard Wilkens was born Oct. 28, 1937, in New York. His basketball
schooling came on Brooklyn’s playgrounds and at a city powerhouse,
then Boys High School, where one of his teammates was major league
baseball star Tommy Davis. He would go on to star at Providence
College and was drafted by the Hawks as the sixth overall pick in
1960.
His resume as a player would have been enough to put Wilkens in
consideration for the Hall of Fame. What he accomplished as a coach
— both through success and longevity — cemented his legacy.
Countless other honors also came his way, including being elected to
the FIBA Hall of Fame, the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame, the College
Basketball Hall of Fame, the Providence Hall of Fame and the
Cleveland Cavaliers’ Wall of Honor.
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Retired NBA player Jamal Crawford, left, and former player Lenny
Wilkens smile as they sit court side during a preseason basketball
game between the LA Clippers and the Portland Trail Blazers, Oct. 3,
2022, in Seattle. (AP Photo/John Froschauer, File)
His coaching stops included two stints in Seattle
totaling 11 seasons, two seasons in Portland — during one of which
he still played and averaged 18 minutes per game — seven seasons in
both Cleveland and Atlanta, three seasons in Toronto and parts of
two years with the Knicks.
Warriors coach Steve Kerr, who played for Wilkens from 1989 to 1993,
remembers him most for the dignity with which he maneuvered through
life.
“He was such a dignified human being and a great leader with this
kind of quiet confidence,” Kerr said. “He’d been through quite a bit
in his life, in his childhood, just in America and dealing with
being a Black man in America. And he shared some of that with us and
for him to forge the career that he did in the game and to make the
impact that he did on so many people, pretty impressive.”
Wilkens moved into first place on the wins list on Jan. 6, 1995,
while coaching the Hawks. His 939th victory surpassed Red Auerbach’s
record. From there, he became the first coach to reach 1,000 career
wins, a mark since matched by nine others.
The possibility of playing and coaching at the same time was raised
before the 1969 season when Wilkens was at the home of SuperSonics
general manager Dick Vertlieb and playing a leisurely game of pool.
“I thought he was crazy,” Wilkens recalled. “I kept putting him off,
but he was persistent. Finally, we were getting so close to training
camp, so I said, ‘What the heck, I’ll try it.’”
From there, he became increasingly enamored with coaching.
Seattle trailed the Cincinnati Royals by four points with a few
seconds remaining when Wilkens set up a play that resulted in a
dunk. Then, he ordered his players to press since the Royals were
out of timeouts. The Sonics stole the inbounds pass, scored again to
tie the game and won in overtime.
“I was like, ‘Wow!”’ Wilkens said. “I had just done something as a
coach that helped us win, not as a player.”
After his coaching career ended in 2005, Wilkens returned to the
Seattle area where he lived every offseason. Wilkens ran his
foundation for decades, with its primary benefactor being the Odessa
Brown Children’s Clinic in Seattle’s Central District.
Wilkens is survived by his wife, Marilyn; their children, Leesha,
Randy and Jamee; and seven grandchildren.
___
Tim Booth, a former Associated Press sports writer, was the
principal writer of this obituary.
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