By Clarice Burger
FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS
Leonard Randolph Wilkens (born October 28, 1937) is an American former professional basketball player and coach in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He has been inducted three times into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, first in 1989 as a player, as a coach in 1998, and in 2010 as part of the 1992 United States Olympic “Dream Team” for which he was an assistant coach. In 1996, Wilkens was named to the NBA 50th Anniversary Team, and in 2021 he was named to the NBA 75th Anniversary Team. In addition, in 2022 he was also named to the list of the 15 Greatest Coaches in NBA History, being the only person to be in both NBA 75th season celebration lists, as a player and as a coach. He is also a 2006 inductee into the College Basketball Hall of Fame.
Wilkens made a combined 13-time NBA All-Star Game appearances as a player (nine times) and as a head coach (four times), was the 1993 NBA Coach of the Year, won the 1979 NBA championship as the head coach of the Seattle SuperSonics, and an Olympic gold medal as the head coach of the 1996 U.S. men’s basketball team.
During the 1994–95 season, Wilkens set the record for most regular season coaching wins in NBA history, a record he held when he retired with 1,332 victories. As of February 2022, he is in third place on the list, behind Don Nelson and Gregg Popovich. Wilkens won the Chuck Daly Lifetime Achievement Award for the 2010–11 NBA season. Wilkens is also the most prolific coach in NBA history, at 2,487 regular-season games, 89 more games than Nelson, and over 400 more than any other coach, and has more losses than any other coach in NBA history, at 1,155.
COACHING CAREER
Cleveland Cavaliers (1986–1993)
Wilkens would go on to coach the Cleveland Cavaliers from 1986 to 1993. His tenure with Cleveland was highlighted by three 50-win seasons, including a then-franchise record 57 victories in both the 1988–89 and 1991–92 seasons. In the second of those seasons, the Cavaliers reached the Eastern Conference Finals for only the second time in franchise history. Despite those successes, the Cavaliers failed to make deeper playoff runs under Wilkens, with four of their playoff defeats coming against the Michael Jordan-led Chicago Bulls. In 1993, following their defeat to the Bulls in the second round of the playoffs, Wilkens resigned as coach.
TODAY’S ALMANAC
Question of the Day
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Word of the Day
Puzzle of the Day
Died
- John Locke (philosopher) –
- Abigail Adams (U.S. First Lady) –
- Red Auerbach (basketball coach) –
- Porter Wagoner (country music singer) –
- Matthew Perry (actor) –
Born
- Francis Bacon (painter) –
- Dr. Jonas Salk (discovered polio vaccine) –
- Cleo Laine (singer) –
- Joan Plowright (actress) –
- Charlie Daniels (musician) –
- Lenny Wilkens (basketball player, coach) –
- Jane Alexander (actress) –
- Dennis Franz (actor) –
- Bill Gates (Microsoft founder) –
- Lauren Holly (actress) –
- Jami Gertz (actress) –
- Julia Roberts (actress) –
- Brad Paisley (country singer) –
- Joaquin Phoenix (actor) –
- Stephen Nedoroscik (Olympic gymnast ) –
Events
- Christopher Columbus discovered Cuba and claimed it for Spain –
- Harvard College founded in Massachusetts –
- The Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor was dedicated by President Cleveland –
- The Statue of Liberty was unveiled in the New York Harbor –
- St. Louis police became the first in the U.S. to use fingerprinting –
- The Jack Benny Show made its television debut –
- Ernest Hemingway was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature –
- An X17.2 solar flare occurred that, at the time, was the third most powerful ever recorded –
- Mike Lowell of the Boston Red Sox was named World Series MVP –
- The Boston Red Sox swept the Colorado Rockies to win the World Series –
Weather
- Lander, Wyoming, received 27 inches of snow –
- The temperature at Big Piney, Wyoming, plunged to -15 degrees F –
- The Georgia mountains received five inches of snow –
- Cyclone 05B in the Indian Ocean became a Category 5 –
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