Atlanta Hawks: 25 Best Players To Play For The Hawks
By Phil Watson
PG. 1960-68. Lenny Wilkens. 12. player. 125. <strong>How acquired:</strong> 6th overall pick from Providence, 1960 NBA Draft.
An All-American at Providence as a senior, Lenny Wilkens averaged more than 14 points and seven rebounds per game.
The St. Louis Hawks used the sixth overall pick in the 1960 NBA Draft on the point guard.
Wilkens took over during his rookie year with the Hawks, helping them to the 1961 NBA Finals.
He averaged 12.4 points, 6.0 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game in the five-game loss to the Boston Celtics, shooting 34.8 percent from the floor and 80 percent at the line.
He was a five-time All-Star with the Hawks, finishing second in the MVP voting in 1967-68. He finished third in the NBA in assists in 1967-68, fourth in 1964-65 and 1965-66 and fifth in 1962-63.
In October 1968, after the club had moved to Atlanta, he was traded to the expansion Seattle SuperSonics in exchange for Walt Hazzard, later known as Mahdi Abdul-Rahman.
In eight seasons in St. Louis, Wilkens averaged 15.5 points, 5.5 assists and 4.9 rebounds in 35.2 minutes per game, shooting 42.1 percent from the field and 75.7 percent at the foul line.
Wilkens was a three-time All-Star with the Sonics, leading the NBA in assists in 1969-70, before he was traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers in August 1972.
One more All-Star berth followed in 1973 and in October 1974, his contract was sold to the Portland Trail Blazers, where he became a player-coach. He retired when fired as coach of the team in June 1976.
He had two stints as a player-coach, going 121-125 with Seattle from 1969-72 and posting a 75-89 record from 1974-76 with the Blazers.
Wilkens was named coach in Seattle a second time in 1977 and from 1977-85 was 357-277, with a 37-32 playoff mark, leading the team to the NBA Finals in 1978 and 1979, winning the title in 1979. He was also GM of the Sonics from April 1985 until May 1986.
He returned to Cleveland to coach the Cavaliers in 1986 and remained through 1993, going 316-258 and 18-23 in the playoffs. With the Hawks from 1993-2000, Wilkens was 310-232 and 17-30 in the postseason, earning Coach of the Year honors in 1993-94.
He later coached the Toronto Raptors from 2000-03, going 113-133 and 8-9 in the playoffs and the New York Knicks in 2004-05 with a 40-41 record and an 0-4 postseason mark.
His overall record is 1,332-1,155, the second-most wins by a coach in NBA history.
He is 43rd in NBA history with 38,064 minutes played, 13th with 7,211 assists and 34th with an average of 6.7 assists per game.
Wilkens was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame first as a player in 1989 and later as a coach in 1998.
Next: Helped Hawks To 2 NBA Finals