{"id":34945,"date":"2025-11-10T16:25:23","date_gmt":"2025-11-10T16:25:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/34945\/"},"modified":"2025-11-10T16:25:23","modified_gmt":"2025-11-10T16:25:23","slug":"brooklyn-born-lenny-wilkens-dies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/34945\/","title":{"rendered":"Brooklyn-born Lenny Wilkens dies"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>In June, former NBA basketball player and coach Lenny Wilkens poses for a photo with his statue after its unveiling outside of Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle.<br \/>\nPhoto: Lindsey Wasson\/AP<\/p>\n<p>BROOKLYN \u2014 BROOKLYN-BORN BASKETBALL LEGEND LENNY WILKENS died on Sunday, Nov. 9 at age 88. He is remembered as a representation of \u201cthe very best of the NBA,\u201d according to a statement from National Basketball Association Commissioner Adam Silver. Born in Bedford-Stuyvesant on Oct. 28, 1937, young Wilkens lost his father when he was 5 years old. His Irish Catholic mother raised him and his four siblings, according to a New York Times obituary.<\/p>\n<p>Wilkens, who was 6\u20191\u201d by his college years, played basketball at Boys High and Providence College. He became a three-time NBA Hall of Famer as both a player and coach. He coached six teams over 32 seasons, including the New York Knicks and the Cleveland Cavaliers. He transformed the Atlanta Hawks, leading them to a championship and earning him NBA Coach of the Year. He also led the U.S. Basketball \u201cDream Team\u201d to win gold at two consecutive Olympics in 1992 and 1996.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLenny Wilkens represented the very best of the NBA \u2014 as a Hall of Fame player, Hall of Fame coach, and one of the game\u2019s most respected ambassadors,\u201d said Silver.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">\u2730\u2730\u2730<\/p>\n<p> <a style=\"font-size: inherit; background-color: #fefefe;\" href=\"https:\/\/brooklyneagle.com\/whats-news-breaking\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wnb-read-more aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1761847445_0_read-more-wnb-shad-1024x341.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"341\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/docs.google.com\/forms\/d\/e\/1FAIpQLSd5hEdpXLwpeWAPMPmcmdn--vHz1InXjphFdhedt_prXKoVFQ\/viewform\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1761847446_790_ultima-reader-response.png\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>\t<br \/>\n<a class=\"related-articles comment-link\" style=\"clear: both;padding-top:6px;color:#6cc4e8;\" href=\"#comments\" title=\"Leave a Comment\"\/><\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/brooklyneagle.com\/337838\/9-11-memorial-events-in-brooklyn\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"250\" height=\"250\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1761847446_926_AP24254764142461-250x250.jpg\" class=\"alignleft wp-post-image\" alt=\"Flags are placed by the names of those killed during the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks at the reflecting pools at the National September 11 Memorial &amp; Museum, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024, in New York. One World Trade Center rises in the background. AP Photo\/Donald King\" decoding=\"async\"  \/><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t9\/11 memorial events in Brooklyn<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSeptember 11 |<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tBrooklyn Eagle Staff\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/brooklyneagle.com\/337822\/americans-mark-the-24th-anniversary-of-the-9-11-attacks-with-emotional-ceremonies\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"250\" height=\"250\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1761847446_74_AP25254543237567-250x250.jpg\" class=\"alignleft wp-post-image\" alt=\"William Staudt, a firefighter that worked at Ground Zero on the day of the attacks, looks over a reflecting pool during a ceremony to mark the 24th anniversary of the 9\/11 attacks, Thursday, Sept. 11, 2025, in New York. AP Photo\/Seth Wenig\" decoding=\"async\"  \/><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAmericans mark the 24th anniversary of the 9\/11 attacks with emotional ceremonies<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSeptember 11 |<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tBrooklyn Eagle Staff\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/brooklyneagle.com\/337613\/volunteers-prep-millions-of-meals-for-fellow-new-yorkers-on-24th-anniversary-of-9-11\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"250\" height=\"250\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1761847447_214_AP25253626445845-250x250.jpg\" class=\"alignleft wp-post-image\" alt=\"Volunteers work during the &quot;NYC Meal Pack For 9\/11 Day&quot; at the Intrepid Museum, Wednesday, Sep. 10, 2025, in New York. AP Photo\/Yuki Iwamura\" decoding=\"async\"  \/><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tVolunteers prep millions of meals for fellow New Yorkers on 24th anniversary of 9\/11<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSeptember 10 |<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tBrooklyn Eagle Staff\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/brooklyneagle.com\/337825\/ceremonies-hosted-throughout-brooklyn-to-remember-9-11\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"250\" height=\"250\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1761847447_369_canarsie4-250x250.jpg\" class=\"alignleft wp-post-image\" alt=\"A 9\/11 tribute remembering victims and honoring survivors and first responders was held on Sept. 7. Photo by Arthur De Gaeta\" decoding=\"async\"  \/><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\u2730PREMIUM <br \/>Canarsie Park holds 9\/11 vigil, other ceremonies hosted throughout Brooklyn<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSeptember 11 |<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tBrooklyn Eagle Staff\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In June, former NBA basketball player and coach Lenny Wilkens poses for a photo with his statue after&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":34946,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[3302,98,100,99,9,24,63,15076],"class_list":["post-34945","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-brooklyn","tag-breaking","tag-brooklyn","tag-brooklyn-headlines","tag-brooklyn-news","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-obituaries-obituary"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34945","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34945"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34945\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34946"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34945"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34945"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34945"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}