Oct 5, 2018; Seattle, WA, USA; Former Seattle Supersonics head coach Lenny Wilkens holds the 1979 championship trophy during a third quarter timeout of a game between the Sacramento Kings and Golden State Warriors at KeyArena. Mandatory Credit: Joe Nicholson-Imagn Images Joe Nicholson-Imagn Images

Former Knicks Coach Lenny Wilkens Dies at 88

Originally posted on New York Knicks on SI
By Henry Brown | Last updated Nov 9, 2025 7:08 PM ET

Lenny Wilkens, a Hall of Fame player and coach with an NBA career spanning nearly a half-century, died at 88 years old. The league icon is most well-remembered for the time he spent as a 9x All-Star worthy of a shoutout for the NBA's 50th and 75th Anniversary Teams, as well his time as a championship-winning coach with the Seattle SuperSonics of the late 1970s, but the Brooklyn native made sure to fit in one stint with his local New York Knicks before ending his legendary coaching run.

Wilkens With the Knicks

He spent just two seasons with the team between the 2003-04 and 2004-05 seasons, totaling just 81 games overseen as the head coach during a particularly tumultuous period of the historic franchise's history. They didn't win much during his time, but so was the style of the 21st century Knicks up until a few years ago.

Just like how he took over midway through that first season following departed coach Don Chaney's own slow 15-24 start, Wilkens' opportunity at a complete season with the Knicks wasn't fully seen out. Except unlike his predecessor, Wilkens wasn't fired, choosing to resign upon their uninspiring 17-22 entry to that 2005 campaign.

He was a 67-year-old man by the time he and New York parted ways, having spent 30 seasons as an NBA head coach prior to his last run at a top job. Before his Knicks experience were two separate stretches with the Sonics, the first of which he acted as the player-coach before coming back to win the championship, as well as a stops with the Portland Trail Blazers, Cleveland Cavaliers, Atlanta Hawks and Toronto Raptors.

New York Knicks guard Walt Frazier (10) is defended by Seattle Supersonics guard Lenny Wilkens (10), 197 Manny Rubio-Imagn Images

Of that bunch, only the Knicks and Raptors persisted as the Wilkens-coached teams that he himself did not at one point play for. But just as he was inducted into the Hall of Fame as a player in 1989, he was added a second time nine years later for his extensive coaching efforts.

"Lenny Wilkens represented the very best of the NBA - as a Hall-of-Fame player, Hall of Fame coach, and one of the game's most respected ambassadors," NBA Commissioner Adam Silver released in a statement following his passing. "...He influenced the lives of countless young people as well as generations of players and coaches who considered Lenny not only a great teammate or coach but also an extraordinary mentor who led with integrity and true class."

This article first appeared on New York Knicks on SI and was syndicated with permission.

More must-reads: