American basketball player and coach (died 2025)

Lenny Wilkens

Leonard Randolph Wilkens was an American professional basketball player and coach in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He has been inducted three times into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, first in 1989 as a player, as a coach in 1998, and in 2010 as part of the 1992 United States Olympic "Dream Team" for which he was an assistant coach. In 1996, Wilkens was named to the NBA 50th Anniversary Team, and in 2021 he was named to the NBA 75th Anniversary Team. In addition, in 2022 he was also named to the list of the 15 Greatest Coaches in NBA History, being the only person to be in both NBA 75th anniversary lists as a player and as a coach.

Born

1937

October 28

Died

Living

Era

1930s

Country

—

About

Lenny, in brief

Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0

Life timeline

Key dates

1937 Born

Also on October 28

What else happened on this day, through history

97 Roman emperor Nerva is forced by the Praetorian Guard to adopt general Marcus Ulpius Trajanus as his heir and successor.
306 Maxentius is proclaimed Roman emperor.
312 Constantine I defeats Maxentius, becoming the sole Roman emperor in the West.
969 The Byzantine Empire recovers Antioch from Arab rule.

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The world in 1937

When Lenny arrived

april 1 Aden becomes a British crown colony.
april 1 The Royal New Zealand Air Force is formed as an independent service.
april 12 Sir Frank Whittle ground-tests the first jet engine designed to power an aircraft, at Rugby, England.
april 26 Spanish Civil War: Guernica, Spain, is bombed by the German Condor Legion and the Italian Aviazione Legionaria.

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Same-day contemporaries

Also born on October 28

Bill Gates 1955– American businessman and philanthropist, co-founded Microsoft Auguste Escoffier 1846–1935 French chef and author (born 1846) Christopher Kelk Ingold 1893– British chemist (died 1970) Gwendoline Christie 1978– English actress Hans Speidel 1897– German general (died 1984) Jarrett Jack 1983– American basketball player Kanō Jigorō 1860–1938 Japanese founder of judo (born 1860) Kevin Macdonald 1967– Scottish director, producer, and screenwriter Lucy Bronze 1991– English footballer

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Same-year contemporaries

Also born in 1937

Abner Haynes 1937–2024 American football player (born 1937) Alain Badiou 1937– French philosopher and academic Alice Coltrane 1937–2007 American pianist and composer (died 2007) Barry Switzer 1937– American football player and coach Bill Cosby 1937– American actor, comedian, producer, and screenwriter Billy Meier 1937– Swiss author and photographer Birju Maharaj 1937–2022 Indian dancer, composer, singer and exponent of the Lucknow "Kalka-Bindadin" Gharana of Kathak dance (died 2022) Bobby Charlton 1937–2023 English footballer and manager (died 2023) Carlos Lamarca 1937–1971 Brazilian captain (died 1971)

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Lenny's birthday October 28 Lenny's zodiac Scorpio When Lenny arrived 1937