Hall of Famer as both player and coach — nine-time All-Star and the winningest coach in NBA history.
Leonard Randolph Wilkens was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1937 and attended Providence College before St. Louis Hawks selected him sixth overall in the 1960 NBA Draft. His 15-season playing career produced 16.5 points and 6.7 assists per game and nine All-Star appearances. He was named to the All-NBA Second Team. He was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame as a player in 1989 and named to the NBA 50th Anniversary Team in 1996. He then coached in the NBA for 32 seasons, winning the championship with Seattle in 1979, coaching the 1996 USA Olympic Dream Team to gold in Atlanta and compiling 1,332 coaching victories — the record at his retirement. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame a second time as a coach in 1998, becoming one of only three people to be enshrined as both player and coach. He coached nine different NBA franchises. His combined playing and coaching career makes him one of the most decorated individuals in the history of professional basketball across both dimensions of the game. He remains one of only a handful of people to have shaped the sport so fundamentally from two entirely different perspectives.
Hall of Fame player and coach, NBA's all-time winningest coach at retirement
How They Played
Cerebral point guard, excellent court vision and leadership
Lasting Impact
One of few to be inducted into Hall of Fame as both player and coach
All-Star 9x
Career Honours
- All-Star 9x
- All-NBA Second Team
- Hall of Fame (player 1989, coach 1998)
- NBA 50th Anniversary Team
- Olympic Gold (coach, 1996)