Basketball Hall of Famer Al Attles has passed away.
Attles, who played for the Philadelphia/San Francisco Warriors from 1960-1971, was 87 years old. He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2019.
Attles averaged 8.9 points per game in his 11 NBA seasons before embarking on a stellar coaching career. He took over as Warriors’ head coach in 1970, becoming the third African-American head coach in league history, and lead the franchise to a championship in 1975. He remained head coach of the team until 1983 before serving as the team’s general manager from 1983-1986. From 1994-1995, he served as an assistant coach for the team. The Warriors did not have a losing season from 1971 through 1978. Attles ended his head coaching career with 557 wins (most in Warrior history) and 518 losses.
From 1960-1965, Attles was a teammate of Wilt Chamberlain’s, and went 8-for-8 from the field for 17 points in the same game that Chamberlain scored 100 points.
Attles, a native of Newark, N.J., attended North Carolina A&T. He was a co-recipient in 2017 of the National Basketball Coaches Association’s Lifetime Achievement Award. He also received the John W. Bunn Lifetime Achievement Award from the Hall of Fame in 2014 for his contribution to the sport.
RIP, Al Attles.
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