Basketball HOFer Attles dead at 87
Published
"The Destroyer" is gone.
Golden State Warriors legend Al Attles has died at the age of 87, the team announced Wednesday.
A guard, Attles spent 11 years as a player with the team with his final two seasons in a player-coach role. He then coached the team for 12 more years and led them to an NBA championship in 1975.
A native of Newark, Attles was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2019.
“Alvin Attles did not just epitomize what it meant to be a Warrior—he was Mr. Warrior," the team said in a statement. "His tenacious playing style earned him the affectionate nickname of 'The Destroyer' on the court, but it was his gentle soul, grace and humility off the court that served as a guiding light for the organization for more than six decades. As a player, coach, general manager, ambassador, and most of all, as a person, Alvin set the standards of professionalism and class by which we all strive to achieve. He leaves behind a profound legacy within the game of basketball and the Bay Area community, but especially as a family man and humanitarian. We mourn his loss alongside his wife, Wilhelmina, son Alvin, and all who knew and loved him.”
Originally taken with the 39th overall pick of the 1960 NBA Draft out of North Carolina AT&T by the then-Philadelphia Warriors, Attles would go on to appear in 711 games for the team. He averaged 8.9 points on .451 shooting, 3.5 boards and 3.5 assists over 25.1 minutes a night.
Coaching the team from 1969 to 1983, Attles posted a record of 557-518 (.518), winning a pair of Pacific Division titles. In 1975, the Warriors swept the Washington Bullets in the NBA Finals for the franchise's third championship.
Attles' No. 16 was retired by the team in 2015.