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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (April 25, 2000)
Wilkens resigns as Hawks coach after losing season ATLANTA (AP) — Lenny Wilkens has won more games than any coach in NBA history. He’s also out of a job, resigning Monday from the Atlanta Hawks after the worst season of his 27-year career. The resignation was announced at Philips Arena by team president Stan Kasten and general manager Pete Babcock. Wilkens did not attend the news conference but was reached by The Associated Press at his subur ban Seattle home. “The Hawks were very good to me,” he said. “It’s just time to move on. The 62-year-old Wilkens, who coached the Hawks for seven years, had two years and $10.4 million left on a lucrative contract extension signed in 1997. The team said it would continue to pay Wilkens until he finds a new job. “I still enjoy coaching,” Wilkens said.. “I want to take some time off and just see what’s out there. Hopefully, I will come to some con clusions, but I’m not rushing to do anything.” The decision was not unexpected after the Hawks struggled to a 28-54 record, their worst since moving to Atlanta in 1968. The team missed the playoffs for the first time since 1992, losing 25 of its final 31 games. “We all conclude^ mutually that this was a good time to give every body a chance to start from scratch, start a new chapter in their lives,” Kasten said. “While we all agree this is the right decision, it doesn’t dimin ish my sadness that this day had to come.” 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 nme-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, he was honored as one of the 50 greatest players in NBA history and one of the 10 greatest coaches, the only per son 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. The Hawks had at least 50 victo ries in three of Wilkens’ 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 prac tice 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 addi tion to getting at teas! a top eight draft pick this year, the Hawks are * likely to have more than $10 million in cap room for 2001. “We had to go in this direction to get back to where we need to be,” ” The Hawks were very good to me. It’s just time to move on” Lenny Wllkens former Hawks coach Babcock said. We wanted to take one step backward so we could take five steps forward. Now, maybe we took a couple of more steps back ward than we needed to take. But it’s no one person’s fault.” 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 uncomfort able with the direction of the team prior to the season. Nevertheless, he refused to char acterize 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 deci sions 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 infor mal feelers from four or five poten tial coaches before Wilkens resigned, and he already had talked with a cou ple of candidates Monday before attending the late-aftemoon news conference. Among those mentioned as potential candidates are college coaches Tubby Smith of Kentucky, Dob Huggins of Cincinnati and Mike Jarvis of JSt. John’s and Sonics assis tant Nate McMillan. work with us! _l The summer edition of the DN is hir- B^ B ■ ing. We are looking for reporters, I y K associate editors and photographers. I I 111 Applications should be completed by I I ly Thursday, April 28,2000 in the I y Nebraska Union, Room 36. ■ B If your friends store with us they’ll receive a 10% DISCOUNT with their student I.D. Aardvark Self Storage 5800 Arbor Rd 464-5100 w • —^j