Lenny Wilkens, an NBA Hall of Famer as both a player and a coach, passed away this Sunday at the age of 88, the American Basketball League reported. Wilkens was one of the most dominant players of the 1960s, an eight-time All-Star and an NBA champion in 1979 as coach of the Seattle SuperSonics.
He holds the NBA coaching record for games played (2,487 games), won an Olympic gold medal as coach of the American team at the 1996 Olympics, and also worked as an assistant for the North American team at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.
“Lenny Wilkens represented the best in the NBA, as a player, as a coach and as one of the most respected ambassadors in the sport,” said NBA Commissioner Adam Silver.