Lenny Wilkens, revered NBA player and coach who was inducted three times in the Hall of Fame (as NBA player and coach and coach for "dream team" in Barcelona 92) died aged 88, his family announced. He played for 15 years, between 1960 and 1975, as a point guard, and coached for 32 seasons, between 1969 and 2005 (working some years as player and coach). He was named one of the NBA's 75 greatest players and 15 greatest coaches of all-time.
As a coach, he worked for Seattle SuperSonics, Portland Trail Blazers, Cleveland Cavaliers, Atlanta Hawks, Toronto Raptors, and New York Knicks. He won his only NBA Championship as a coach for Seattle SuperSonics in 1979, which was also the only title for the team. The SuperSonics relocated to Oklahoma City and are now Oklahoma City Thunder, current NBA champions.
Wilkens was named nine times in the NBA All-Star game as a player, and four more as head coach. He was also the coach for the team that won the Olympic Gold medal in 1996. He was coach for 2,487 regular games in his coaching career, with 1,332 victories and 1,155 defeats.
"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", said NBA commissioner Adam Silver said. "But 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."