Lenny Wilkens, one of the greatest players and coaches in NBA history, died Sunday.
Wilkens was so great, he is a three-time Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductee as a player (1989), coach (1998) and as part of the staff that coached the 1992 Dream Team (2010).
The reaction to his death is wide-ranging, which is fitting given the impact he had in both roles across multiple franchises and generations. Many around the league have weighed in on Wilkins’ impact and below is what some around the league have said about Wilkens.
Rick Carlisle, Pacers head coach and current president of the National Basketball Coaches Association
“Lenny was — what an amazing man. A great coach. Hall of Famer as a player and a Hall of Famer as a coach. And he was also an 18-year president of the coaches association and got a lot of great things done during that period of time. When I came into the league as a head coach back in 2001, this guy couldn’t have been more gracious to young coaches, and he was always a great competitor.”
Steve Kerr, Warriors head coach, former Team USA basketball head coach and among 15 Greatest Coaches in NBA History
“We had a bunch of guys injured. This would have been around 1990 or ’91, and he jumped into the scrimmage, and he could still play,” Kerr recalled of his time being coached by Wilkens.
“What I remember most is just the dignity. He was such a dignified human being. And a great leader through this kind of quiet confidence. He’d been through quite a bit in his life, in his childhood, just in America and dealing with being a Black man in America, and he shared some of that with us. For him to forge the career that he did in the game, and to make the impact that he did on so many people, pretty impressive.”
Lenny Wilkens with the 1996 United States Basketball Dream Team (Tim Zielenbach / Getty Images)
Jason Kidd, Mavericks head coach and NBA champion (won as player in 2011, assistant coach in 2020)
“Our prayers and thoughts go out to his family. You talk about a pioneer, a legend. Hall of Fame on three different occasions. I loved that he was a player-coach in Seattle. Then also helped bring a championship to Seattle. He’s a role model for all of us. Coming out of Providence. He’s just a winner.
We dearly miss him.”
“I think he has come across a lot of coaches in this league. Helped a lot of coaches get their first job.”
Doc Rivers, Bucks head coach and among 15 Greatest Coaches in NBA History
“He was the best. I had an amazing relationship with him. We had the same agent. I got to talk to him a lot. To say he was a mentor was an understatement for me. But he was a mentor for a ton of people.”
“Whenever he felt like I was struggling, the phone rang. He would always say, ‘You owe me $20 from a golf round.’ He would always say it. Such a pioneer. You know what I didn’t know? We learn the best part of people after they pass. He was a Hall of Fame coach and he never coached another Hall of Famer. Did anyone know that? I never knew that. You know how hard that is to win that many games? Pretty remarkable. I never thought he got his due as far as how good a coach he was. I really don’t. He was just terrific.”
J.B. Bickerstaff, Pistons head coach and 2024-25 NBA Coach of the Year runner-up
“That was tough for all of us coaches, me in particular. He gave my dad his first head-coaching job with the Seattle Supersonics. He is a pioneer in a way, and a trendsetter that we haven’t seen before. The doors that he opened up for people, I’m probably not in this position that I’m sitting in right now (without him). My dad was an assistant coach with the Bullets for 12 years, couldn’t get an opportunity to be a head coach and Lenny gave him the opportunity to be a head coach.
He was a mentor to me, even through my time in Cleveland. He would reach out, call me and check on me when he was in town — we would have conversations. But you talk about class, you talk about the complete human being. For a guy who was as talented in all fields as he was, he meant a lot to me and to my family. Again, (I) probably wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for him.”