Lenny Wilkens
Episode 226
29 MAY 2023
He is in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as both a player and a coach as well as for being an assistant coach with the 1992 Olympic “Dream Team.” He played in the NBA for four teams over 15 years and was a nine-time All-Star and would later be named one of the 50 greatest players in NBA history. Before ending his playing career, he took on the role of player-coach with two different teams. As a full-time coach, he guided the Seattle Supersonics — winning a championship in 1978-79 — and then the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Atlanta Hawks, the Toronto Raptors, and the New York Knicks. In the midst of all that, he also coached the U.S. men’s basketball team to a gold medal at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta. He also served for nine years as vice president of the National Basketball Players Association, served as president of the NBA Coaches Association, held a number of jobs in the Supersonics’ front office, and served as a game analyst on basketball television broadcasts. He also wrote an autobiography called, “Unguarded: My Forty Years Surviving in the NBA.”
Notable guest quotes:
“Back then the Mass was in Latin, and we were always challenged to learn Latin… But I learned it and it was fun being an altar boy. I used to serve all the different Masses from time to time.”
“Growing up we were a very Catholic family, and so we never missed going to church. You had to be dying not to be able to go, ‘cause my mother wasn’t having it. But ya’ know, it was a way of life for us.”
“The elementary school I went to was called Holy Rosary and it was taught by Sisters of Mercy… they were great teachers.”
“I had role models who would encourage me that, it’s up to you to become as good as you can be in whatever it was. And one of those was a guy named Jackie Robinson, who lived in our neighborhood.”
“It kind of peaked my interest in basketball and I started to play more and more. I played CYO. I played in the PAL – the Police Athletic League – and… I started to get better and better and better.”
“We had very few lay teachers. We had a lot of Dominican fathers teaching at Providence (College)… and I became with friendly with a lot of them.”
“My dad died when I was five years old. And I remember at the funeral this nun was holding me and she says, ‘Well, you’re the man of the family now’.”
“A lot of the Dominican fathers who taught (at Providence College) became friends. I stayed friendly with a lot of them even when I graduated and went on to play pro ball.”
“There were a couple of guys on the team who were Catholic. We went to church together. I didn’t hide it at all. It’s who I am!”
“One of my first role models other than my mother was the priest in my parish.”
Related links:
Lenny Wilkens Foundation website
