The death of Al Attles, a Hall of Famer who coached the Warriors to the 1975 NBA championship and who spent more than six decades with the organisation in various capacities, including as a player, general manager, and most recently as a club ambassador,.
He was 87 years old. Wednesday was the day that the Warriors made the announcement that Attles had passed away on Tuesday in his home in East Bay, surrounded by his family.
Due to his aggressive playing style, the Warriors selected him in the fifth round of the 1960 draft and nicknamed him “The Destroyer.” For him, the Warriors were his only team and his absolute favourite. It is the longest period of time that a single player has spent with a single franchise in the history of the league.
As one of the first black head coaches in the National Basketball Association (NBA), Attles was there for some of the most memorable games that occurred during various eras. At the game where Wilt Chamberlain scored 100 points for the Philadelphia Warriors on March 2, 1962, he was a member of the team and played at Hershey, Pennsylvania. All eight of Attles’ attempts at field goals resulted in 17 points earned by the team.
He was also the coach of Rick Barry, who would go on to become a Hall of Famer, on the day that he scored 64 points against Portland on March 26, 1974. In December 2016, he watched Klay Thompson score 60 points over the course of three quarters.
I am suffering from a heavy heart today as a result of the passing of my friend and mentor. During my first year in the league, Al was my flatmate all the way through. In a statement that was issued by the Warriors, Barry was quoted as saying, “He taught me valuable lessons on being a professional that were not something that could be learnt on the court.” Later on, when he was our coach during the championship season of 1975, he exhibited leadership, togetherness, and a sharp strategic acumen that enabled us to achieve success at the highest level.
The recent passing of Giants baseball Hall of Famers Willie Mays and Orlando Cepeda has dealt the Bay Area sports community yet another devastating blow. This news comes after the deaths of both of these individuals.
During his tenure as coach of the Warriors, the team won their first title since arriving on the West Coast in 1975. Forty years later, in 2015, Golden State finally won another championship. His 557 victories as a coach are the most in the history of the franchise.
Attles never compared the numerous outstanding performances he valued the opportunity to see up close. When it comes to basketball, various times mean different problems. He emphasised that there were a great number of significant milestones to commemorate and thank.
Attles made this statement while sitting in his seat during a late break on Thompson’s great night. “I’ve seen a 100-point game,” he added. Rick was a fantastic player, and he felt a strong desire to come out on top. You need the assistance of your teammates in order to achieve the same level of success that he did in terms of scoring points. I make an effort to examine each of them on their own because, once you begin to compare, there is always going to be someone who comes in second. Let’s give him the credit he deserves.
Attles used to joke about how he passed to Chamberlain for all those points. He really had six assists, but Guy Rodgers had 20 of the team’s 39 total in the 169-147 victory over the Knicks.
“I think 50,” Attles remarked, chuckling about his record-breaking assists total. “I do not know. Guess what? We won the game. That is all that matters.
“Because I played with Wilt, people usually ask, ‘What do you think about Wilt scoring 100 points?’ I respond, ‘Give him credit for what he did then.’ It’s not comparable. They are both good fruits. It all comes down to personal preference. I was very close to Wilt, but you have to appreciate what they did that evening. I appreciate watching outstanding performances.”
Attles averaged 8.9 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 3.5 assists across 11 seasons with the Warriors.
In 2014, the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame honoured him with the John W. Bunn Lifetime Achievement Award.
Then, in the months preceding his induction into the Hall of Fame as a member of the Class of 2019, Attles maintained his normal modesty. He always preferred to provide compliments rather than accept credit for his own successes.
“They made a mistake,” Attles remarked with a wide grin, displaying his quick wit. “They haven’t caught up to me yet.”
Warriors coach Steve Kerr, who is well-known for his trendy suits on the sidelines and subsequently in the stands, once wore one in respect to Attles.
“He’s the face of the franchise,” Kerr stated. “He’s been so for 60 years, so he’s an incredible presence.”
After missing most of the 2018-19 season—his cheery presence having been such a dependable feature of the team’s former Oracle Arena—Attles returned for Game 4 of the 2019 NBA finals versus Toronto to shouts and acclaim.
It wasn’t the same when Attles was gone.
Clifford Ray, a former centre, referred to Attles as a “father figure to all of us” and stated that black NBA players frequently felt more at ease learning from the coach due to their shared cultural background.
“He made things easy and simplified things,” Ray told me. “He also didn’t overwhelm us with technical information and paperwork. It was really structured. “We knew exactly what we were doing.”
Attles was born on November 7, 1936, in Newark, New Jersey. He was a co-recipient of the 2017 National Basketball Coaches Association’s Chuck Daly Lifetime Achievement Award and was inducted into the Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame in 1993.
“Alvin’s name has become synonymous with the Warriors franchise after dedicating his entire adult life to our organisation, dating back to our final seasons in Philadelphia,” Warriors owner Joe Lacob said following Attles’ Hall of Fame selection. “He has thrived in every role and duty over the last 60 years, from player to coach to general manager, and most recently as an ambassador. And he’s done it with tremendous class and humility.