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Lenny Wilkens, a Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame inductee as both a player and coach, died Sunday at 88.
Wilkens, who played 15 years in the NBA — including four seasons as a player-coach — was one of just five men to be enshrined in the Hall of Fame in both roles. The others were John Wooden, Bill Sharman, Tom Heinsohn and Bill Russell.
"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 said in a statement. "So much so that, four years ago, Lenny received the unique distinction of being named one of the league’s 75 greatest players and 15 greatest coaches of all time."
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Lenny Wilkens of the Portland Trail Blazers looks on against the Washington Bullets during an NBA basketball game circa 1975 at the Capital Centre in Landover, Maryland. Wilkens played for the Trail Blazers from 1974-75. (Focus on Sport/Getty Images)
Wilkens made nine NBA All-Star teams during his playing career and twice led the league in assists. Standing just over six feet tall, he broke into the league after a standout career at Providence College, where he helped lead the Friars to their first NIT appearance in 1959 and an NIT finals berth in 1960.
A two-time All-American at Providence, Wilkens became the first player in school history to have his jersey retired, in 1996.
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Wilkens was selected by the then–St. Louis Hawks in the first round of the 1960 NBA Draft. He played only 20 games in
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