Tag: Lenny Wilkens

Sonics legend Lenny Wilkens to raise the 12th Man Flag

Sonics legend Lenny Wilkens to raise the 12th Man Flag

The Seattle Seahawks are moments away from kicking off against the Minnesota Vikings for their regular season home finale, and the team has quite a treat planned for those in attendance. The best pregame tradition in the NFL is the raising of the iconic 12th Man Flag in the south end zone, and to close things out, Seattle has brought out a special legend.

The honors for raising the 12th Man Flag fall upon SuperSonics legend Lenny Wilkens. One of the titans of professional basketball, Wilkens helped deliver the only NBA championship in city history when he led Seattle to the championship in the 1979 season. Wilkens was the coach of the Sonics from 1977-1985.

However, his legend isn’t just as a leader on the sidelines, but one on the court as well. Wilkens was also a player for Seattle from 1968-1972, and earned the All-Star Game MVP in 1971. His No. 19 jersey was retired by the Sonics, and when the day comes when the franchise is back in Seattle, it will hang from the rafters once more.

Kudos to Coach Wilkens, a perfect choice to end the regular season of football in Seattle.

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Notre Dame coach Niele Ivey enshrined in St. Louis Sports Hall of Fame

Congrats, Niele!

Perhaps the only thing [autotag]Niele Ivey[/autotag] is prouder of than being a member of the Notre Dame family is being a St. Louis native. The legendary Irish player-turned-coach made her mark in St. Louis before she accomplished bigger things, and she got to demonstrate how far she’d come when she led the Irish to victory over California at the Enterprise Center in November 2022.

Now, Ivey’s accomplishments will be remembered in her hometown forever. On Thursday, she became one of 11 new members of the St. Louis Sports Hall of Fame. Here’s the announcement of her induction that was made in July:

Ahead of her honor, the Irish expressed congratulations for their coach:

Ivey will be joining such fellow basketball inductees as legendary St. Louis Hawks Bob Pettit and Lenny Wilkens, two of the greatest NBA players ever. That alone makes this a noteworthy honor.

Congratulations to Ivey and all the other honorees for 2024.

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Gregg Popovich, Steve Kerr among 15 Greatest Coaches in NBA History

NBA PR: The NBA today unveiled the 15 Greatest Coaches in NBA History as part of the continuing celebration of the league’s 75th Anniversary Season. The list was selected by a panel of 43 current & former NBA head coaches in collaboration with the National Basketball Coaches Association.

Twenty-one years ago, McMillan …

Twenty-one years ago, McMillan reluctantly took over as an interim head coach for the Seattle SuperSonics. Today, the Atlanta Hawks’ head coach has 701 wins, is on pace to soon be the 18th-winningest coach in NBA history and has the third-most wins among all African American coaches in league history behind only Lenny Wilkens (1,332 wins) and Rivers (1,006). “For me to even be in this position, I never even imagined it,” McMillan told The Undefeated. “I really didn’t. To coach over, what, 1,000 games and to win over 50% of them, I never ever imagined it.”

Daugherty said head coach Lenny Wilkens …

Daugherty said head coach Lenny Wilkens called for forward Larry Nance to double-team Jordan with Ehlo on that play. Nance, however, lost Jordan. “Michael faked Larry and it ended up getting Larry crossed up,” Daugherty said. “That was the problem, because Craig was a step off of Michael. That gave Michael just enough time to get that shot off, but it wasn’t supposed to happen. Larry was supposed to be there. … “I heard Craig say it was life-changing for him with people asking him all the time. And I looked at Craig and that guy was a heck of a defender. … But no one really knows that or talks about that because they’re so enamored with talking about Michael, which I understand because he was one of the greatest ever. But I don’t overlook all that.”

Steve Kerr, winner of a bazillion rings …

Steve Kerr, winner of a bazillion rings as Jordan’s teammate in Chicago, as a role player with the Spurs, and then, of course, as the Warriors coach, knew MJ long before he punched him at practice: “I think guarding him was the first time I actually met him,” Kerr said. “Craig Ehlo was injured (for the Cavs), so I started at the 2 in that game. I guarded Michael and he guarded me. Talk about the all-time mismatch physically. I was a buck-eighty. I remember I made the first shot of the game with him on me, felt really good about that, and then six minutes into the game he hadn’t scored. I was thinking, sitting there during a timeout, ‘Michael hasn’t even scored yet. I’m doing pretty well.’ I thought about it and I realized he hadn’t even taken a shot yet. He’s been passing to all his teammates. ‘Why hasn’t he shot yet?’ And then over the next four minutes he just torched me. Made like six straight shots and then Lenny Wilkens took me out. By the end of the game he had like 48, I finished with two. Just that first bucket of the game. That was my welcome to the ‘Michael Jordan World’ moment.”

Who has scored the most points for losing teams in NBA history?

Who has scored the most points for losing teams in NBA history?

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