Al Attles, the hard-nosed Hall of Famer who coached the 1975 NBA champion Warriors and spent more than six decades with the organization as a player, general manager and most recently team ambassador, has died.
He was 87. The Warriors announced Wednesday that Attles had died in his East Bay home on Tuesday surrounded by family. Details about his death were not revealed, but had battled some health issues in recent years.
‘Alvin leaves behind a profound legacy within the game of basketball and the Bay Area community, but especially as a family man and humanitarian,’ read a Warriors statement about Attles. ‘We mourn his loss alongside his wife, Wilhelmina, son Alvin, and all who knew and loved him.’
Nicknamed ‘The Destroyer’ for his physical style of play, the Warriors were his love and his only team after they selected him in the fifth round of the 1960 draft. It marks the longest stint with a single franchise for one person in league history.
Attles, one of the first Black head coaches in the NBA, was witness to some of the greatest games in different eras. He played in Wilt Chamberlain’s 100-point game for the Philadelphia Warriors in Hershey, Pennsylvania, on March 2, 1962. Attles made all eight of his field-goal tries for 17 points.
Hall of Famer and former NBA player and coach Al Attles has passed away at age 87
ead coach Al Attles of the Golden State Warriors looks on against the Washington Bullets
Warriors guard Al Attles poses for a portrait circa 1960’s in San Francisco, California
He also coached Hall of Famer Rick Barry the day he scored 64 against Portland on March 26, 1974, then watched Klay Thompson drop 60 points over three quarters in December 2016.
Attles was a longtime staple at Warriors games with a regular seat on press row high above the court in Oracle Arena, though he missed a few stretches of time in recent years as he battled illnesses.
A college star at North Carolina A&T, Attles was prepared to return to his native New Jersey in 1960 before being drafted in the fifth round of the NBA Draft by the Philadelphia Warriors.
The 6-foot guard went on to average 8.9 points and 3.5 assists per game over 11 NBA seasons. During that time the Warriors moved from Philadelphia to San Francisco, where he began his distinguished coaching career after retiring in 1968.
Two years later, Attles became followed the Celtics’ Bill Russell by becoming one of the first African-American coaches in the league.
Al Attles became one of the first black head coaches in NBA history back in 1970
Taking over in the midst of the 1969-70 season, Attles went just 8-22 in his first year and 41-41 in his second before turning the Warriors into a contender in 1971. With the emergence of Nate Thurmond, Jeff Mullins, and Cazzie Russell, not to mention the subsequent addition of Rick Barry, the Warriors remained one of the NBA’s top teams throughout the 1970s.
In 1975, Attles’ Warriors swept the Washington Bullets in the NBA Finals, thereby cementing his status as one of the league’s premier coaches.
Attles remained the Warriors coach until 1983, but later returned as an assistant under Don Nelson and Bob Lanier in 1994-95.
He gained a reputation as a fighter during his playing and coaching days. In fact, Attles stormed onto the court and tangled with Washington center Wes Unseld in 1975 after Barry was sucker punched by Washington’s Mike Riordan.
‘It pains me to hear that the icon Al Attles is no longer with us,’ read a post from long-time NBA reporter Marc Spears. ‘The patriarch of the Warriors befriended me from the moment I moved back to the Bay in ’09. I was blessed to sit next to him at press row during many games at Oracle. The world just lost a stellar human. RIP coach.’