Basketball Hall of Famer Al Attles dies at 87 a half century after becoming one of the NBA’s FIRST black coaches and guiding the Warriors to a title
Al Attles, the hard-hitting 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 as a team ambassador, has died.
He was 87. The Warriors announced Wednesday that Attles died Tuesday at his East Bay home surrounded by family. Details of his death were not released, but he had struggled with health issues in recent years.
“Alvin leaves a deep legacy within the game of basketball and the Bay Area community, but most importantly as a family man and humanitarian,” the Warriors said in a statement about Attles. “We mourn his loss along with his wife Wilhelmina, son Alvin and all who knew and loved him.”
The Warriors, nicknamed “The Destroyer” for his physical playing style, were his love and only team after selecting him in the fifth round of the 1960 draft. It is the longest tenure with one franchise for one person in league history.
Attles, one of the NBA’s first black head coaches, witnessed some of the greatest games in several 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 attempts for 17 points.
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Hall of Famer and former NBA player and coach Al Attles has died at age 87
Golden State Warriors head coach Al Attles looks on against the Washington Bullets
Warriors guard Al Attles poses for a 1960s portrait in San Francisco, California
He also coached Hall of Famer Rick Barry on the day he scored 64 points against Portland on March 26, 1974, and then watched Klay Thompson score 60 points in three quarters in December 2016.
Attles was a long-time fixture at Warriors games, with a regular spot in the press row high above the pitch at Oracle Arena. However, he has been absent on a number of occasions in recent years due to illness.
Attles, a star player at North Carolina A&T, was on the verge of returning to his native New Jersey in 1960 when he was 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 relocated from Philadelphia to San Francisco, where he began his distinguished coaching career after retiring in 1968.
Two years later, Attles became one of the first African-American coaches in the league, following Bill Russell of the Celtics.
Al Attles became one of the first black head coaches in NBA history in 1970
Attles took over midway through the 1969-70 season and 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 arrival of Rick Barry, the Warriors remained one of the NBA’s best teams throughout the 1970s.
In 1975, Attles’ Warriors defeated the Washington Bullets in the NBA Finals, cementing his status as one of the league’s top coaches.
Attles remained the Warriors’ coach until 1983, but later returned as an assistant under Don Nelson and Bob Lanier in 1994–95.
He earned a reputation as a fighter during his playing and coaching days. In fact, Attles stormed onto the field and engaged Washington center Wes Unseld in 1975 after Barry had taken a sucker punch from Washington’s Mike Riordan.
“I’m saddened to hear that the icon Al Attles is gone,” NBA reporter Marc Spears wrote. “The Warriors patriarch became a friend of mine from the moment I moved back to the Bay in 2009. I was fortunate enough to sit next to him in press row for many games at Oracle. The world just lost a star. RIP coach.”