Al Attles, former Warriors player, coach, GM, dies at 87

Al Attles, a 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 died in his San Francisco Bay Area home Tuesday surrounded by family.

Nicknamed “The Destroyer” for his physical style of play, the Warriors were his love and his only team after the team, then in Philadelphia, 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. The 6-foot guard averaged 8.9 points, 3.5 assists and 3.5 rebounds in 711 games with the Warriors over 11 seasons, and his No. 16 jersey was retired by the franchise.

“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.”

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, when Attles made all eight of his field goal tries for 17 points.

He also coached Hall of Famer Rick Barry the day he scored 64 against Portland on March 26, 1974, and watched Klay Thompson drop 60 points over three quarters in December 2016.

“My heart is heavy today with the loss of my mentor and friend. Al was my roommate during my rookie season in the league. He taught me valuable lessons on being a professional that couldn’t be learned on the court,” Barry said in a statement released by the Warriors. “Later, as our coach during the 1975 championship season, he exemplified leadership, togetherness and a keen strategic ability that enabled us to succeed at the highest level.”

Attles coached the Warriors from 1970 to 1983, leading them to the 1975 NBA championship with a four-game sweep of the Washington Bullets. His 557 coaching wins are most in franchise history. He later served as general manager for three seasons and held roles in the front office as vice president and consultant.

He was enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2019. Attles was previously honored by the Hall of Fame with the John R. Bunn Lifetime Achievement Award in 2014.

“Most of the great organizations with a lot of history have one player who everybody associates with that franchise,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “Al Attles is that guy for us. He’s the face of our franchise for many generations of Warriors fans. We’re lucky to have him.”

Attles never compared all of the great performances he cherished getting to see up close. Different basketball times, different challenges. So many special milestones to celebrate and appreciate, he insisted.

“I’ve seen a 100-point game,” Attles said from his seat during a late timeout on Thompson’s big night. “Rick was such a great player, and he cared about winning. In order to score the number of points he scored, you have to have help from your teammates. I try to look at them individually because once you start comparing, someone is always going to be No. 2. Let’s give him his credit.”

Attles would joke how he passed to Chamberlain for all those points. He actually had six assists, while Guy Rodgers had 20 of the team’s 39 overall in the 169-147 win against the New York Knicks.

“I think 50,” Attles said with a chuckle of his assists total in the record-setter. “I don’t know. Guess what? We won the game. That’s all that matters.

“Because I played with Wilt, people always ask, ‘What do you think about Wilt scoring 100 points?’ I say, ‘Give him credit for what he did then.’ It’s like apples and oranges. They’re both good fruit. It’s a matter of what you like. I was very close to Wilt, but you have to enjoy what they did that night. I enjoy any great performance.”

After missing most of the 2018-19 season — his smiling face had been such a reliable presence in the team’s former Oracle Arena — Attles returned for Game 4 of the 2019 NBA Finals against the Toronto Raptors to cheers and fanfare.

It wasn’t the same when Attles was away.

Former center Clifford Ray considered Attles a “father figure to all of us” and noted that Black NBA players often felt more comfortable learning from the coach because of their similar cultural background.

“He made things easy and simplified things,” Ray said. “He also didn’t inundate us with a lot of technical things and paperwork. It was very structured. We knew what we were doing.”

Born on Nov. 7, 1936, in Newark, New Jersey, Attles was a co-recipient of the 2017 National Basketball Coaches Association’s Chuck Daly Lifetime Achievement Award. He joined 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 organization, dating clear back to our final seasons in Philadelphia,” Warriors owner Joe Lacob said upon Attles’ Hall of Fame announcement. “He has flourished in every role and responsibility over the last 60 years, from player to coach to general manager and, most recently, as an ambassador. And he’s done it with an incredible amount of class and humility.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.