Atlanta Hawks: Top 5 Point Guards of All-Time
Apr 22, 2015; Atlanta, GA, USA; Former Atlanta Hawks coaches Lenny Wilkens (right) and Mike Fratello (left) honor current Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer (center) with the 2014-15 NBA Coach of the Year Award prior to game two of the first round of the NBA Playoffs against the Brooklyn Nets at Philips Arena. The Hawks won 96-91. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Liles-USA TODAY Sports
Younger fans may remember Lenny Wilkens as the head coach of the Hawks in the 1990s. Before his coaching career Wilkens made a name for himself as a very successful NBA point guard. Wilkens played for the Hawks while they were in St. Louis from 1960 to 1968.
Wilkens averaged 15.5 points, 5.5 assists and 4.9 rebounds on 42.1 percent shooting during his 8 seasons as a Hawk. During his rookie season the Hawks made the NBA Finals, but lost to Bill Russell’s Boston Celtics. The Hawks regularly made the playoffs during his time with the organization (Bob Petit was their best player at the time), but they would never again make the NBA Finals with Wilkens as their point guard.
He was an NBA All-Star nine times in his career, five times as a member of the Hawks. Wilkens has also been elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame as both a player and a coach. Even after all these years and a shift in playing style Wilkens still ranks sixth all-time in assists per game (5.5) and ranks in the top ten in minutes played and made free-throws.
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