Wilkens open to coaching again
Hall of Famer Lenny Wilkens has agreed to serve as a consultant to the South Korean National Team and said he's open to returning as a coach in the NBA.
Wilkens will head to Seoul on June 4 for a week to help the team's coaching staff put together a roster that will scrimmage NBA players in the Las Vegas summer league.
"They asked me to take part, so I met with their commissioner and the coach and we have had conversations," Wilkens told SI.com "We are working on finalizing it right now."
The question, of course, is whether this is a precursor to Wilkens attempting to get back into coaching?
Wilkens, who retired from coaching in 2005 after 32 seasons in the NBA, finished with 1,332 career victories, in addition to a title with the SuperSonics (1979) and a Coach of the Year award with the Hawks (1994). This year he was surpassed by Warriors coach Don Nelson for most career wins (1,335).
Nelson remains the Warriors' coach, but the team is currently for sale and if a new owner is able to purchase the team by August, it is believed Nelson will be fired as the new owner tries to get his own people in place. If that's the case, and if Wilkens is able to land another job, he would be able to reclaim his title as the league's winningest coach.
"If the situation was right, I certainly would consider [coaching again]," Wilkens said. "I have not explored it. But Cleveland certainly has a good team. So does Chicago. A few teams are good and need coaches. Let's see how everything shakes out and then we'll see."
Don Nelson passing Lenny has probably fueled this.
