Lenny Wilkens, ex-NBA player and coach, honored at NBA Finals
NEW YORK - Hall of Famer Lenny Wilkens is the recipient of the Association's "Chuck Daly Lifetime Achievement Award" for 2011...
NEW YORK — Hall of Famer Lenny Wilkens is the recipient of the Chuck Daly Lifetime Achievement Award, the National Basketball Coaches Association Sunday.
One of only three Hall of Famers enshrined as both player and coach, Wilkens ranks second all-time in wins and first in games coached. He is the only NBA legend listed among both the all-time Top 50 NBA players and the all-time Top-10 NBA Coaches.
“I’m deeply grateful to my NBA peers for honoring me with the Chuck Daly Lifetime Achievement Award,” said Wilkens. “Chuck was a great coach, but more important a great friend and I’m thrilled to accept this award.”
As a head coach, Wilkens coached the Seattle Supersonics to their only NBA title in 1979, and led five different NBA teams to the playoffs. Utilizing a team-oriented philosophy, Wilkens had the unique talent of crafting championship contending clubs out of competent but unspectacular units. In 1994, he was named the NBA Coach of the Year with the Atlanta Hawks Wilkens also served as head coach of USA Basketball’s Gold Medal winning Dream Team II the 1996 Summer Olympics, after serving as an assistant coach on the fabled 1992 Gold Medal-winning Dream Team.
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