The Golden State Warriors lost the leader of their 1975 championship team on Tuesday, when Hall of Fame point guard Al Attles died on Tuesday. He died in his East Bay home surrounded by family, the team announced.
He is the longest-serving coach in Warriors history, and also has the most wins in franchise history. Attles holds the record for the longest stint with a single franchise for one person in NBA history. It’s a record he built across six decades as a player, coach, executive and, most recently, a team ambassador with the Warriors.
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Hall of Fame Inductee Al Attles speaks during the Class of 2019 Press Event as part of the 2019 Basketball Hall of Fame Enshrinement Ceremony on September 5, 2019 at the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts. (Chris Marion/NBAE via Getty Images)
Attles coached the 1975 NBA championship San Francisco Warriors and spent more than six decades with the organization. He began his NBA playing career with the Warriors when they were based in Philadelphia in 1960. He was drafted 39th overall, a pick that came in the fifth that year out of North Carolina A&T. He played until 1971 and was part of the team’s relocation to California in 1962. The last three years of his playing career, he also served as an assistant coach.
Attles took over as the team’s head coach in 1970 and led the team to its third championship, breaking the team’s decades-long title drought that began after 1956.
Attles was then the first head coach after the team rebranded as the Golden State Warriors in 1971. He led the team as head coach for 14 years, aside from being replaced for the last 21 games of the 1979-80 season and then returning the following year. In 1983, the man who replaced him in that stretch, Johnny Bach, became his permanent replacement, and Attles took on the role of general manager.
Al Attles watches Game 4 of the NBA Finals between the Golden State Warriors and the Toronto Raptors at Oracle Arena in Oakland, California, on Friday, June 7, 2019. (Gabrielle Lurie/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)
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Attles compiled 557–518 regular-season record (588–548 including playoffs) with six playoff appearances in 14 seasons as head coach of the Warriors.
As a player, he was nicknamed “The Destroyer” for his physical style of play. The Warriors were his love and his only team. It marks the longest stint with a single franchise for one person in league history.
“Alvin leaves behind a profound legacy within the game of basketball and the Bay Area community, but especially as a family man and humanitarian,” the Warriors said in a statement. “We mourn his loss alongside his wife, Wilhelmina, son Alvin, and all who knew and loved him.”
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