|
 |   |
|
EVENTS Fantasy Central Inside Game Multimedia Central Statitudes Your Turn Message Boards Email Newsletters Golf Guide Cities Work in Sports
CNNSI.com GROUP
COMMERCE |  |
Wilkens walks All-time wins leader quits after worst season of career
Posted: Tuesday April 25, 2000 06:06 PM
ATLANTA (AP) -- Discouraged by the worst season of his 27-year career, Lenny Wilkens walked away willingly from the Atlanta Hawks. He's not ready to walk away from coaching. Wilkens, who has won more games than any other coach in NBA history, resigned Monday after seven years with the Hawks but made it clear that he's not ready for retirement at age 62. "I still enjoy coaching," Wilkens told The Associated Press in a telephone interview from his suburban Seattle home. "I want to take some time off and just see what's out there. Hopefully, I will come to some conclusions, but I'm not rushing to do anything." Wilkens resigned after the Hawks struggled to a 28-54 record, their worst since moving to Atlanta in 1968 and ending a streak of seven straight playoff appearances. If he had balked at stepping down, the whole situation might have turned ugly.
"Everyone agreed this was the right thing to do," said team president Stan Kasten, who announced the move at a Philips Arena news conference along with general manager Pete Babcock. "The talks were mutually amicable. We all reached the same decision." Wilkens had two years and $10.4 million left on a lucrative contract extension signed in 1997. The team said it would honor the contract until Wilkens finds a new job. "The Hawks were very good to me," he said. "It's just time to move on." Atlanta had at least 50 victories in three of his first five years, then finished second in the Central after battling with Indiana until the final week of the strike-shortened 1999 season. But in a bid to shake up a stale franchise and get past the second round of the playoffs for the first time since moving from St. Louis, Babcock engineered a deal that sent leading scorer Steve Smith to the Portland Trail Blazers for Isaiah Rider and Jim Jackson. The Hawks also traded longtime point guard Mookie Blaylock and wound up with seven new players on the roster. Rider's discipline problems were well documented, but the Hawks wanted to dump Smith's long-term contract and switch to an up-tempo offense with younger, faster players.
Rider didn't show for the first day of training camp, missed a practice and skipped a team flight. Finally, after two suspensions and the threat of another for repeatedly showing up late, he was waived with 18 games left in a lost season. Babcock takes responsibility for the Rider trade but continues to defend it as the right move. In addition to getting at least a top eight draft pick this year, the Hawks are likely to have more than $10 million in cap room for 2001. "I feel a great sense of responsibility for what happens on the floor," Babcock said. "But I also feel a great deal of responsibility for what needs to be changed." Kasten said he has no plans to shake up the front office, leaving Babcock as the GM despite some questionable moves over the past decade. Instead, the one to go was Wilkens, who seemed uncomfortable with the direction of the team prior to the season. Nevertheless, he refused to characterize himself as the fall guy. "Everybody knew it was a risk. We all understood that," Wilkens said. "It just didn't work out. It's unfortunate, but that's the way it goes sometimes." The players were supportive of Wilkens. "Lenny didn't make all the decisions here, all the changes," All-Star center Dikembe Mutombo said late in the season. "All he could do was coach who was brought here." But the organization wasn't happy that Wilkens waited until March 6 to bench journeyman point guard Bimbo Coles and put rookie Jason Terry into the lineup. Likewise, first-round picks Dion Glover and Cal Bowdler didn't get any meaningful playing time until late in the season. Babcock said he received informal feelers from four or five potential coaches before Wilkens resigned, and he already had talked with a couple of candidates Monday before attending the late-afternoon news conference. Among those mentioned as potential candidates are college coaches Tubby Smith of Kentucky, Bob Huggins of Cincinnati and Mike Jarvis of St. John's; NBA assistants Nate McMillan of Seattle and Byron Scott of Sacramento; and former NBA great Isiah Thomas, who owns the Continental Basketball Association and is building a home in Atlanta. "We're looking for energy. We're looking for someone who can provide specific direction. We're looking for someone who is committed to player development. We're looking for someone who can relate to the players," Babcock said. Before coming to Atlanta, Wilkens had stints in Cleveland, Seattle and Portland. His career record is 1,179-981 and he won his lone NBA championship with the Sonics in 1979. Wilkens, a nine-time NBA All-Star, and John Wooden are the only people elected to the Hall of Fame as both a player and coach. In 1997, Wilkens was honored as one of the 50 greatest players in NBA history and one of the 10 greatest coaches, the only person on both lists. He got his 939th victory in early 1995, passing former Boston Celtics coach Red Auerbach. In 1996, Wilkens coached the U.S. Olympic team to a gold medal in Atlanta after serving as an assistant in 1992.
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
