Lenny Wilkens Era
Hall of Fame player and coach who led the SuperSonics to their only NBA title.
Lenny Wilkens was a Hall of Fame player and coach who won the 1979 NBA championship as head coach of the Seattle SuperSonics.
Quick Facts
- Status
- Alive (as of 2025)
Lore & Background
Wilkens was a nine-time NBA All-Star as a player and a four-time All-Star as a head coach. He won the 1979 NBA championship as head coach of the Seattle SuperSonics and was named 1994 NBA Coach of the Year. He set the record for most regular-season coaching wins in NBA history during the 1994–95 season and retired with 1,332 victories. He is the only person named to both the NBA 50th and 75th Anniversary Teams as a player and to the list of the 15 Greatest Coaches in NBA History.
Reader's Guide
Wilkens coached the SuperSonics from 1977 to 1985, leading them to the 1979 NBA championship. He also coached the Cleveland Cavaliers, Atlanta Hawks, Toronto Raptors, and New York Knicks. He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame three times: as a player (1989), as a coach (1998), and as part of the 1992 Olympic Dream Team (2010).
More in Club History & Eras
Elsewhere in Oklahoma City Thunder
Spotted an error? Know more?
Reader corrections go straight into our review queue. Suggest an edit · How this site is sourced