Former Warriors player and coach Al Attles passed away on Tuesday at the age of 87, the team has announced in a press release.
Drafted by the then-Philadelphia Warriors out of North Carolina A&T in 1960, Attles spent his 11-year career as an NBA player with the Warriors, who relocated to San Francisco in 1962.
The 6’0″ point guard appeared in a total of 711 games, averaging 8.9 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 3.5 assists in 25.1 minutes per contest.
Attles, who was named an assistant coach in 1968, spent the final two years of his playing career as the Warriors’ head coach, a position he maintained well after his retirement as a player. He posted a 557-518 (.518) regular season record in that role, which he held until 1983, along with a 31-30 (.508) mark in the postseason.
Attles led the Warriors to an NBA championship in 1975, which was Golden State’s most recent title until the team began its dynastic run last decade by winning a championship in 2015. Attles still has the most regular season wins by a coach in franchise history, though Steve Kerr (519 career wins) could pass his total of 557 as soon as next season.
Following his stint as the Warriors’ head coach, Attles served as the team’s general manager for three seasons. He was an ambassador for the organization for many years after that, briefly returning in an official capacity as an assistant coach during the 1994/95 season.
Attles was inducted into the Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame in 1993 and was enshrined in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2019, having been selected by the Hall’s Contributor Committee.
“Alvin Attles did not just epitomize what it meant to be a Warrior—he was Mr. Warrior,” the team said in a statement on Wednesday. “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.”
We at Hoops Rumors send our condolences to Attles’ family and friends.