Hall of Famer Lenny Wilkens, the godfather of Seattle basketball, dies at 88

FILE - Former Seattle SuperSonics coach and player Lenny Wilkens acknowledges the crowd during the second half of a preseason NBA basketball game between the Los Angeles Clippers and the Utah Jazz, Oct. 10, 2023, in Seattle.

FILE - Former Seattle SuperSonics coach and player Lenny Wilkens acknowledges the crowd during the second half of a preseason NBA basketball game between the Los Angeles Clippers and the Utah Jazz, Oct. 10, 2023, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson, File)


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SEATTLE — 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 1996 U.S. Olympic team — which he coached to gold at the Atlanta Games.

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Tim Booth, a former Associated Press sports writer, was the principal writer of this obituary.

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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA

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