Lenny Wilkens' Remarkable Legacy as Player, Player-Coach, and Coach
Lenny Wilkens, the only person who earned recognition as both one of the NBA's 50 greatest players and one of the NBA's 10 greatest coaches, passed away yesterday at the age of 88. He coached the Seattle SuperSonics to the 1979 NBA title, and he ranks third all-time on the NBA's regular season wins list with 1332, trailing only Gregg Popovich (1390) and Don Nelson (1335). Wilkens became the all-time wins leader in 1994 after he surpassed Red Auerbach, who had held the record (938) since the 1960s. Wilkens was the NBA's all-time wins leader from 1994-2010, when Nelson broke his record. Wilkens won the NBA's Coach of the Year award in 1994, and he finished in the top five in seven other seasons (1971-72, 1978-80, 1989, 1992). He led five different franchises to at least one playoff appearance (Seattle, Cleveland, Atlanta, Toronto, New York), winning at least 50 games in a season nine times with three different teams (Seattle, Cleveland, Atlanta).
Wilkens' coaching career was so long and successful that it is easy to forget how great he was as a player. He excelled at Providence, twice leading the Friars to the NIT during an era when the NIT was much more prestigious than it is now. Wilkens won the 1960 NIT MVP even though Providence lost to Bradley in the championship game. The St. Louis Hawks selected him sixth overall in the 1960 NBA Draft. As a rookie, Wilkens ranked fourth on the team in scoring (11.7 ppg) and fifth in assists (2.8 apg) as the Hawks reached the NBA Finals for the second year in a row and third time in four seasons. The Celtics defeated the Hawks 4-1 to claim their third straight NBA title en route to winning a record eight consecutive NBA championships and 11 championships in Bill Russell's 13 season career.
Wilkens averaged 18.2 ppg and 5.8 apg in his second season, but military service limited him to playing in just 20 games. In 1962-63, his third NBA season, Wilkens earned the first of three straight All-Star selections. Wilkens also made the All-Star team as a Hawk in 1967 and 1968, when he finished second in regular season MVP voting behind Wilt Chamberlain despite not making the All-NBA Team, which featured Oscar Robertson and Dave Bing on the First Team with Jerry West and Hal Greer earning Second Team honors.
On October 12, 1968, the Hawks traded Wilkens to Seattle for Walt Hazzard. Wilkens made the All-Star team in each of his first three seasons with Seattle while ranking second in the league in assists in 1969 (674; league rankings were then determined by totals and not averages, but he also ranked second with 8.2 apg). He led the league in assists in 1970 (683, with a 9.1 apg average that was nearly a full assist per game ahead of Walt Frazier). Wilkens ranked second in assists in 1971 (9.2 apg), the first season when rankings were determined by averages and not totals. He won the 1971 NBA All-Star Game MVP after scoring a game-high 21 points on 8-11 field goal shooting while leading the Western Conference to a 108-107 win over the Eastern Conference back when the All-Star Game was competitive. Wilkens ranked second in the league in assists in 1972 with a career-high 9.6 apg.
Wilkens began his coaching career by serving as Seattle's player-coach from 1970-72. The SuperSonics, a 1967-68 expansion team, won 30 games before acquiring Wilkens, and then won 36, 38, and 47 games during his three seasons as player-coach. Prior to the 1972-73 season, Seattle traded Wilkens and Barry Clemens to the Cleveland Cavaliers for Butch Beard. Seattle plummeted to 26 wins after Tom Nissalke and then Bucky Buckwalter replaced Wilkens as coach.
In his first season with Cleveland, Wilkens earned his ninth and final All-Star selection while averaging 20.5 ppg (the third best scoring average of his career) and 8.4 apg (again ranking second in the league). He also served as a great mentor for Austin Carr, who told me, "Lenny was very instrumental in me becoming a better guard. I was more of a shooting machine when I was in college. I had to learn
how to conserve my energy because I had to play a lot of minutes. At the
same time, I had to learn how to get the other four guys involved,
because I was so used to everything coming to me. Lenny taught me a lot
about how to make passes. I had a problem making backdoor passes and
Lenny taught me how to do that and when to do it--little things like if I
am going to pass the ball but don't quite have the angle, always pass
the ball at the guy's head or at his ear, because he has to react to
that. That gives you just enough time to get the pass through. I learned
those kinds of little things from Lenny that really helped me
throughout the rest of my career. Once I started having injuries, I had
to start using my mind to stay successful because I lost a step. Once
you lose a step in this game, you are in trouble."
Portland acquired Wilkens' rights prior to the 1974-75 season, and he finished his playing career as a player-coach for one year in Portland, averaging 6.5 ppg and 3.6 apg while guiding the squad to a 38-44 record, the best in the franchise's five year history up to that point. Rookie Bill Walton, who would later lead Portland to the 1977 NBA title, played in just 35 games. The 37 year old Wilkens retired as a player and spent one more year as Portland's coach, leading the Trail Blazers to a 37-45 record in 1975-76.
Seattle started the 1977-78 season 5-17 before hiring Wilkens to replace Coach Bob Hopkins. Wilkens led Seattle to a 42-18 record the rest of the way, and the SuperSonics reached the NBA Finals for the first time before losing 4-3 to the Washington Bullets in the NBA Finals. In 1978-79, Wilkens led Seattle to the best record in the Western Conference (52-30) and the second best overall record, trailing only the defending champion Bullets (54-28). In the first NBA Finals rematch since L.A.-New York in 1973, the SuperSonics defeated the Bullets 4-1. Dennis Johnson won the 1979 NBA Finals MVP, while Gus Williams scored a series-high 29.0 ppg on .500 field goal shooting. Williams scored at least 30 points in three
of the five Finals games, including a series-high 36 in Seattle's
114-112 game four win.
Jack Sikma played a key role for those strong Seattle teams. I interviewed Wilkens during the 2008 NBA All-Star weekend, and he described Sikma's impact: "Jack never shied away. He stepped up. That is why we drafted him. We felt that he was a guy who could contribute and who
would be consistent and when I took over as the coach of the Sonics I
started him. He had been coming off of the bench. He made free throws at
crucial times and was always in the game. When you have success early
in your career it makes you that much more confident."
Paul Silas, who had previously been a key player for Boston's championship teams in 1974 and 1976, provided defense, rebounding, and veteran savvy for Seattle. Wilkens told me how important Silas was for young Sikma's development: "Paul was aggressive and he could play. Any time
that I thought that another veteran team was trying to take advantage of Jack,
I'd insert Paul. He was a wise veteran; he knew what to do and how to do it. That
helped give Jack a reprieve, a chance to catch his breath before he had to go
back in the game. In practice, Paul would go against Jack. I would match them
up because I wanted Jack to learn from one of the best. Paul was huge in that
respect."
Wilkens coached Seattle until the end of the 1984-85 season, and then he moved back to Cleveland, where he had enjoyed success as a player late in his career. Wilkens coached the Cavaliers from 1986-1993, highlighted by 57 win seasons in 1988-89 and 1991-92. In the latter season, the Cavaliers reached the Eastern Conference Finals for just the second time in franchise history before falling 4-2 to the Chicago Bulls, who then won the second of their sixth NBA titles in the 1990s. Brad Daugherty made the All-Star team five times with Wilkens coaching him in Cleveland, and Mark Price earned three All-Star selections plus three All-NBA Team selections during those years (Price earned his final All-Star selection and final All-NBA Team selection in 1993-94 after Mike Fratello replaced Wilkens).
Wilkens coached the Atlanta Hawks to a 57-25 record in 1993-94, tied with the New York Knicks for first in the Eastern Conference and tied with the 1986-87 Hawks for the best regular season record in franchise history; that mark stood until the 2014-15 Hawks went 60-22. Wilkens led the Hawks to the second round of the playoffs four times in seven years after the Hawks advanced that far just three times in the previous 13 seasons.
Wilkens' coaching career concluded with two playoff appearances in three seasons in Toronto, and one playoff berth in two seasons in New York.
In addition to his NBA coaching career, Wilkens was an assistant coach for Chuck Daly with the legendary Olympic gold medal winning 1992 Dream Team, and he was the head coach for Team USA’s 1996 gold medal winning squad.
Wilkens is one of five people inducted in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a player (1989) and as a coach (1998); the others on this special list are John Wooden (1960, 1973), Bill Sharman (1976, 2004), Tommy Heinsohn (1986, 2015), and Bill Russell (1975, 2021). Other honors that Wilkens received include being inducted in the FIBA Hall of Fame, the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame, the College Basketball
Hall of Fame, and the Providence Hall of Fame. He also appears on the Cleveland Cavaliers' Wall of Honor.
After hearing that Wilkens passed away, Indiana coach Rick Carlisle said, "I ended up following [Wilkens] as president [of the National
Basketball Coaches Association]. He did a lot of things
to further the profession; the pension, benefits, coaching salaries
rose significantly during his time. He was a great representative to the
league office, advocating for coaches and the things that coaches
experience that a lot of people didn't know about. Lenny was a great
communicator with things like that. The thing that I'll always
remember, he was such a great gentleman, and such an eloquent human
being, along with being a super competitive coach. He is still way up
there in all-time victories. Very, very special man. He'll be missed,
but he'll be remembered."
There have been greater players than Wilkens, and greater coaches, but no one matches Wilkens' combined resumes as both an elite player and an elite coach. As Carlisle noted, Wilkens had a very positive impact on the sport because of the effective way that he communicated with players, fellow coaches, and the league office.
Labels: Atlanta Hawks, Brad Daugherty, Cleveland Cavaliers, Dennis Johnson, Gus Williams, Jack Sikma, Lenny Wilkens, Mark Price, Paul Silas, Portland Trail Blazers, Seattle Supersonics, St. Louis Hawks
posted by David Friedman @ 2:36 PM
Los Angeles Legend Joe Caldwell
I interviewed Joe Caldwell several times many years ago, and I included his insights in an article about his life and career and also in an article about the art and science of NBA defense. Those articles focused primarily on the ABA and the NBA, with some discussion about Caldwell's achievements in college and as a member of the gold-medal winning Team USA squad in the 1964 Olympics.
Caldwell also had a decorated high school career as one of the top athletes from the Los Angeles area. Caldwell attended Fremont High School, which was affiliated with The Southern League, a high school athletic conference of L.A. city schools from the 1950s through the 1980s. Caldwell is a member of the California Interscholastic Section (CIF)-Los Angeles Hall of Fame.
The CIF-L.A. Hall of Fame video tribute to Caldwell notes that he won
the 1960 City of Los Angeles Player of the Year award after averaging
24.8 ppg while leading Fremont to the city championship, and that
Caldwell was a champion high jumper in high school.
Dennis Love, who has put together a website about The Southern League, informed me that Caldwell was inducted in the Southern League Hall of Fame in 2007. Love also stated that the Los Angeles Unified School District is putting together a district-wide Hall of Fame booklet that will recognize the Southern League Hall of Fame members.
Love is trying to find a copy of Caldwell's autobiography Banned From Basketball. My understanding is that the book is out of print, but if anyone has an extra copy or knows where to buy one you can contact me or leave a message in the comments section of this article.
Labels: ABA, Arizona State, Carolina Cougars, Dennis Love, Fremont, Joe Caldwell, Southern League Hall of Fame, St. Louis Hawks
posted by David Friedman @ 2:27 PM
Classic Confrontations: Boston vs. St. Louis
This article was originally published in the October 2004 issue of Basketball Digest
under the odd title "Intense While it Lasted."Before the 1956-57 season the Boston Celtics traded two future Hall of Famers--center Ed Macauley and forward Cliff Hagan--to the St. Louis Hawks for the number two overall pick in the draft. Celtics coach Red Auerbach did this in order to select center Bill Russell, who had led the University of San Francisco to consecutive NCAA championships. The pre-Russell Celtics were somewhat like the current Dallas Mavericks--a potent offensive team loaded with All-Stars that had great regular season success but did not defend or rebound well enough to win a championship.
Russell was a tremendous student of the game. He knew all of his opponents' tendencies and he mastered intricacies such as keeping his blocked shots in play to ignite the fast break and having enough awareness of his body position to avoid fouling the offensive player when he went for the block. His only weakness was an unpolished offensive game, but Auerbach told Russell that he would never bring up Russell’s scoring average in contract negotiations.
Russell joined the Celtics in December 1956 after leading the U.S. basketball team to the gold medal in the Olympic Games. Russell's defense and rebounding turbocharged the Celtics' fast break, masterfully choreographed by point guard Bob Cousy, a perennial All-Star who won the 1956-57 NBA MVP. Indiana Pacers' broadcaster Bobby "Slick" Leonard, who played against Russell as a member of the Minneapolis (later Los Angeles) Lakers before coaching the Pacers to three ABA titles, says that Russell's Celtics had the best fast break ever, explaining that the Celtics' fast break was unique because of how perfectly suited the entire roster was to play that style: "Red knew that he had the boards because of Russell, but he had Cousy who was a master on the fast break. You let him get that outlet pass and get the ball in the middle and he could do wonders with it. They had runners--Tommy Heinsohn was a great runner. The first 'sixth man' in the NBA was Frank Ramsey. The most underrated guard I ever played against was probably Sam Jones. This guy could do it all--defend, score and he was a money player."
The Celtics and Hawks rivalry is special because after the big trade the teams met in four of the next five NBA Finals. Russell led the Celtics to 11 titles in his 13 seasons but the Hawks posed a significant challenge to Boston’s nascent dynasty, defeating Boston once and twice extending the Celtics to seven games. Hawks' coach Alex Hannum later coached the only other team that defeated Russell’s Celtics in a playoff series--the Wilt Chamberlain led 1966-67 Philadelphia 76ers.
In 1956-57 the Celtics escaped with a 125-123 game seven Finals triumph over St. Louis. Hawks' star forward Bob Pettit, the NBA's first regular season MVP (1955-56), had 39 points but missed a potential game tying shot at the buzzer after a length of the court pass by player-coach Hannum. Russell finished with 19 points and 32 rebounds, while fellow rookie Heinsohn had 37 points and 23 rebounds.
Russell sprained his ankle in game three of the 1958 Finals and the Hawks won 111-108 to take a 2-1 lead. Russell sat out games four and five, which the teams split. He was immobile and ineffective in 20 minutes of game six action and Pettit scored 50 points to lead the Hawks to a 110-109 victory; he scored 19 of the Hawks' last 21 points. Pettit's performance tied Cousy's single game playoff scoring record set in 1953, but Cousy's mark happened in a four overtime game. Auerbach refused to blame the loss on Russell's injury: "You can always look for excuses. We just got beat."
In 1958-59, rookie Elgin Baylor led his 33-39 Minneapolis Lakers to a 4-2 upset of the 49-23 Hawks in the Western Division Finals, only to be swept by Boston in the Finals. Boston blitzed through the 1959-60 regular season with a 59-16 record, but St. Louis extended the Celtics to seven games in the Finals before bowing 122-103. Russell's game seven line read 22 points, 35 rebounds and four assists.
In the 1961 Finals Boston triumphed 4-1 over the Hawks in the only lopsided playoff matchup between the teams. The teams never met again in the Finals, primarily because of the emergence of a new "classic confrontation" that would eventually occur more frequently than any other Finals pairing--Celtics versus Lakers.
Labels: Alex Hannum, Bill Russell, Bob Cousy, Bob Pettit, Bobby "Slick" Leonard, Boston Celtics, Cliff Hagan, Ed Macauley, Red Auerbach, St. Louis Hawks, Tom Heinsohn
posted by David Friedman @ 12:22 AM
Not Exactly the Wonder Five: Pro Basketball's Worst Finalists
This article was originally published in the Summer 2003 issue of Basketball Digest
, though the editor changed the title to "Lacking Lakers"; fortunately, he did not alter the text of the article. Writers do not generally get to choose the titles of their articles, so I suppose I should not complain, but in this case--just like my article about pro basketball's greatest ball hawks--I don't understand why the editor selected a title that is less descriptive than the one that I originally used.
I also wrote about this subject for NBCSports.com in 2006.The Wonder Five sounds like a Motown act or a group of superheroes but basketball fans remember that it was the nickname of the 1976-77 Philadelphia 76ers, featuring All-Stars Julius Erving, George McGinnis and Doug Collins. This talent-laden team took a 2-0 lead in the NBA Finals before Bill Walton's Portland Trail Blazers reeled off four straight wins to claim the championship.
While the Wonder Five failed to capture the ultimate prize, the 76ers enjoyed a very successful season. Their 50-32 record was the best in the Eastern Conference, their 4.0 ppg differential was more than respectable and they beat the defending champion Boston Celtics in the playoffs. The 76ers were clearly a worthy Finals participant, but for some NBA and ABA Finalists Wonder Five would not be a description but a question, as in, "I wonder how these five players made it here?" Thirteen Finals losers had a regular season winning percentage below .550; three of these teams made it to the championship round despite a sub-.500 record.
The 2001-02 New Jersey Nets are not on this list but some observers have called the Nets one of the worst teams to make it to the NBA Finals, citing the generally acknowledged weakness of the Eastern Conference and the fact that the Lakers easily swept the Nets. The unspoken part of this argument is that the Nets have been so putrid for so long that it is hard to believe that they are really good. Also, while Jason Kidd emerged as a legitimate MVP candidate, no Net averaged more than 15 ppg in the regular season, adding to the "who are these guys?" stigma which stuck to the team.
However, the statistics clearly show that the Nets were the class of the Eastern Conference in 2001-02, owning the best record (52-30) and the best ppg differential (4.2 ppg). The 2002 Nets won two more games than the celebrated Wonder Five and posted a slightly better ppg differential. A skeptic could argue that the Eastern Conference was stronger in 1976-77 than in 2001-02 but it's not like the elite Western teams dominated New Jersey during the regular season. The Nets went 4-4 against the West's top four teams (1-1 versus the Sacramento Kings, 2-0 versus the San Antonio Spurs, 1-1 versus the Lakers and 0-2 versus the Dallas Mavericks). Based on a complete season's body of work the Nets do not look like such a horrible Finals team historically.
As for being swept in the Finals, this alone does not demonstrate that a team is one of the worst in Finals history. The extreme example that proves this point happened in 1988-89. The two-time defending champion Los Angeles Lakers raced through the Western Conference playoffs with an 11-0 record only to be swept by the Detroit Pistons in the NBA Finals after Laker starting guards Magic Johnson and Byron Scott suffered injuries. While the 2001-02 Nets were not stricken with comparable injury setbacks, it is still difficult to compare various Finals losers based solely on their Finals' performances without taking into account the strength of the winning teams from each of those seasons. The 2001-02 Lakers would probably have swept a lot of the teams that made the Finals over the years.
The 1958-59 Minneapolis Lakers are the best candidate for the dubious distinction of worst Finals team ever. Their 33-39 record is the worst of any Finalist and their –1.3 ppg differential is easily the poorest of any Finals participant. The Lakers finished 16 games behind the defending champion St. Louis Hawks in the Western Division. Minneapolis had Rookie of the Year Elgin Baylor (who also made the All-NBA First Team) and not much else. Amazingly, the Lakers dispatched the Hawks 4-2 in the Western Division Finals before bowing to Bill Russell's Celtics 4-0 in the NBA Finals.
While too much should not be made of the mere fact of being swept, the Lakers were not only the first team to be swept in the NBA Finals but also the only one to suffer this fate between 1947 and 1971. The team plummeted to 25-50 in 1959-60 and even the arrival of future Hall of Famer Jerry West in 1960-61 only lifted the Lakers to 36-43.
In 1956-57 the St. Louis Hawks became the first team to make it to the Finals despite a sub-.500 record. That season each of the East's four teams had at least a .500 record and all four of the West's teams were below .500; the Ft. Wayne Pistons, the Lakers and the Hawks each went 34-38 but St. Louis emerged from the Western playoffs to face Boston in the Finals. Surprisingly, the Hawks extended the Celtics to seven games before rookie Bill Russell and company claimed the first of 11 championships in 13 years. The Hawks improved to 41-31 in 1957-58 and upset the Celtics in the Finals; Russell was hobbled with a sprained ankle.
The 1980-81 Houston Rockets are the third and last of the sub-.500 Finalists. Led by rebounding champion Moses Malone and aging but still potent guard Calvin Murphy, the Rockets shocked the defending champion Lakers 2-1 in a first round mini-series; Magic Johnson had missed more than half the season with a knee injury and shot only .388 from the field in the three playoff games. After beating a tough San Antonio Spurs team the Rockets caught a break when the upstart Kansas City Kings upset the Phoenix Suns, whose 57-25 record topped the Western Conference. Houston smashed the Kings 4-1 in the Western Conference Finals.
When the Rockets squared off against Larry Bird and the Boston Celtics in the Finals, an unimpressed Malone declared that he and four guys from his hometown of Petersburg, Virginia could beat Boston. Looking at Houston's 1981 roster, maybe he meant that he and four guys off the street could beat the remainder of the Rockets' squad. In any case, Malone's Rockets lost to the Celtics in six games.
The 1969-70 Los Angeles Stars had the worst record (43-41, .512) and worst ppg differential (-.2 ppg) of any ABA Finalist. Prior to the season the Stars signed veteran center Zelmo Beaty away from the Atlanta Hawks, but—like Rick Barry before him—he had to sit out his option year before jumping leagues. Meanwhile, the immortal Craig Raymond averaged a double-double at center and speedy guard Mack Calvin contributed 23.1 ppg and 5.9 apg during the team's improbable playoff run. Coach Bill Sharman's crew upset superstar rookie Spencer Haywood (36.7 ppg and 19.8 rpg in the playoffs) and the Western Division champion Denver Rockets before succumbing 4-2 to the powerful Indiana Pacers in the ABA Finals.
Like the 1956-57 Hawks, the Stars won a championship the year after their unlikely trip to the Finals. In 1970-71 the Stars moved to Los Angeles and went from Cinderella to powerhouse. With Beaty at center and new additions Ron Boone and Glen Combs in the backcourt the Stars won 57 games. In 1971-72 Coach Sharman enjoyed an even greater season, guiding the Lakers to a record 33 game winning streak en route to a then record 69 regular season victories and an NBA title. Sharman and Alex Hannum are the only coaches to win titles in both leagues; Hannum won his first NBA title with the aforementioned Hawks.
Is it possible for a team to win a championship but still be one of the worst Finals teams? In general this is a difficult proposition to accept—if a team scraps its way to a championship despite a mediocre record it deserves the benefit of the doubt that it would defeat most of the Finalists from other seasons that failed to win a title. In any case, only one NBA or ABA championship team had a winning percentage less than .550—the 1977-78 Washington Bullets posted a 44-38 record (.537) and a + .9 ppg differential. That team had two Hall of Famers (Elvin Hayes and Wes Unseld) and made a return trip to the Finals the next year. The Bullets were certainly not one of the greatest championship teams but cannot be seriously considered to be worse than sub-.500 and barely .500 teams that lost in the Finals.
Another championship team with a relatively mediocre record is the 1994-95 Rockets. Houston went 47-35 (.573) but beat the teams with the three best records in the league to make it to the Finals and then swept the Shaquille O'Neal-Penny Hardaway Orlando Magic. That type of performance during the claiming of back-to-back championships certainly does not belong on the list of worst Finals teams. Rick Barry's 1974-75 Golden State Warriors are remembered as one of the more surprising NBA champions. Their sweep of a 60-22 Bullets' team was shocking but the Warriors did have the best record in the Western Conference (48-34). The Warriors, like the Bullets, are not among the great championship teams but also do not deserve to be lumped in with the worst Finalists.
Selecting the best of the best will always spark controversy: Wilt or Russell (or Shaq), Bird or Magic (or Jordan), Celtic Dynasty or the Running of the Bulls (or the Shaq-Kobe Lakers if they pull off the "four-peat"). However, it is doubtful that another team with a .458 record (roughly equal to 38 wins in an 82 game season) and –1.3 ppg differential will appear again in the NBA Finals. The 1958-59 Minneapolis Lakers are quite safe in their perch as the worst Finalists ever.
Note: the following list of the NBA/ABA Finalists with the worst regular season winning percentages accompanied the original article and thus was compiled prior to the completion of the 2002-03 NBA season. | Season | Team | Record/Win % | PPG Diff. |
|
|
|
|
| 1958-59 | Minneapolis Lakers | 33-39/.458 | -1.3 PPG |
| 1956-57 | St. Louis Hawks | 34-38/.472 | -.1 PPG |
| 1980-81 | Houston Rockets | 40-42/.488 | +.4 PPG |
| 1969-70 | Los Angeles Stars (ABA) | 43-41/.511905 | -.2 PPG |
| 1970-71 | Baltimore Bullets | 42-40/.512195 | +.6 PPG |
| 1975-76 | Phoenix Suns | 42-40/.512195 | +.6 PPG |
| 1955-56 | Ft. Wayne Pistons | 37-35/.514 | +.7 PPG |
| 1970-71 | Kentucky Colonels (ABA) | 44-40/.524 | +.1 PPG |
| 1971-72 | New York Nets (ABA) | 44-40/.524 | +.4 PPG |
| 1974-75 | Indiana Pacers (ABA) | 45-39/.536 | +1.1 PPG |
| 1998-99 | New York Knicks | 27-23/.540 | +1.0 PPG |
| 1966-67 | San Francisco Warriors | 44-37/.543 | +2.9 PPG |
| 1950-51 | New York Knicks | 36-30/.545 | +.4 PPG |
Labels: Baltimore Bullets, Houston Rockets, L.A. Stars, Minneapolis Lakers, St. Louis Hawks
posted by David Friedman @ 1:04 AM
