The Knicks’ New Irish Coach

By Tom deignan

IT’S been a good week for Brooklyn basketball in New York City. 

Coney Island’s Stephon Marbury returned home, to play point guard with the Knicks over at Madison Square Garden, making the place feel like the capital of the sports world for the first time in a long time.

Then there’s the New York Nets, the two-time Eastern Conference champs. There’s much talk of Jason Kidd and the boys moving from the swamps of New Jersey to a new home in Brooklyn.

And then there is the new Knicks leader, Lenny Wilkins. The Hall of Famer, who was named the new Knicks coach last week, brings an Irish twist to this Brooklyn basketball renaissance.

Wilkins mother was an Irish immigrant from Cork, who raised Wilkins as well as his three brothers and sisters all by herself, after her African American husband died when Lenny was just five years old.

Wilkins was raised a devout Catholic, and his introduction to the world of hoops came as it did to generations of Irish Americans: through Catholic Youth Organization (CYO) basketball leagues. It was a priest and an Irish American coach who guided Wilkins along the way to NBA glory.

In fact, now that Wilkins - who has the most career wins of any NBA basketball coach – is the new Knicks coach, he will be able to visit his Irish mother more often. Henrietta Wilkins, who worked long hours in a Brooklyn candy factory during Wilkins’ youth, is reportedly living in a Queens nursing home.

Wilkins was born and raised on Reid Avenue, in “do or die” Bed Stuy. It was four kids and Wilkins’ Mom in a cold-water, one-room apartment. The neighborhood then was ethnically diverse, black as well as Jewish. And Greek. And Irish and Italian. Still, Wilkins was often burned by melting pot New York. He has talked often about being dismissed as a “half breed.”

Wilkins was working long hours to help support the family, even when he was still in grade school. His Dad, a chauffeur, died in 1941. When Henrietta Wilkins was not working, she could often be found praying the rosary, or praying to the portraits of the many saints hung in the home.

Basketball was not an immediate fit for Wilkins. He played lots of CYO ball, but only saw limited Public School Athletic League action for Boys High School.

Still, Rev. Tom Mannion, a priest at Holy Rosary who was very close to the Wilkins family, knew a fellow priest at Providence College, and wrote a letter. The letter eventually ended up in the hands of Providence coach Joe Mullaney, who would eventually be sold on Wilkins’ vast playing talents.

The rest, as they say, is New York Irish history.

As a player, Wilkins averaged 16.5 points a game in 15 seasons, making the NBA All-Star team nine times. He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame as a player in 1988.

Meanwhile, Wilkins 30-year coaching career includes 1,292 wins - most in league history – and an NBA title with the Seattle Supersonics in 1979. He was selected NBA Coach of the Year in 1994 with the Atlanta Hawks, and he led the United States Olympic team to the 1996 Gold Medal in Atlanta.

Only Wilkins and John Wooden have been selected to the Hall of Fame as both player and coach. He was also selected as one of the Top Ten Coaches in NBA history in 1996.

Well, now Wilkins has got the Knicks to deal with, an organization which is an expensive mess by most standards.

Still there have been signs of improvement.

Wilkins was brought to the Knicks by Isaiah Thomas. Another legend, Thomas himself was recently named President of Basketball Operations. Then came Wilkins and Marbury, and even a modest winning streak.

“You have very few opportunities in your career to be able to bring in one of the greatest players and coaches in NBA history, and we are very excited to be able to do that today by hiring Lenny Wilkens,” Thomas said after Wilkins’ was hired. 

“His experience and leadership skills as both a player and a coach will be invaluable as we battle to get the franchise back to its proper place at the top of the NBA.” 

Still, even with Marbury and Isaiah, the Knicks will be lucky to make the playoffs this year.

On the other hand, you have to believe that if Lenny Wilkins can overcome the harsh Brooklyn streets, the racial epithets and all the obstacles on and off the basketball court, turning around Madison Square Garden and the Knicks might look like a breeze.

Contact “Sidewalks” at  tdeignan@irishvoice.com.