Another link cut
SEATTLE – Hall of Fame coach Lenny Wilkens resigned Friday as the vice chairman of the Seattle SuperSonics, completing a rapid decline of his role in the organization.
“My passion for this city and this franchise has never wavered, but I feel that my position within the organization did not develop the way that I thought it would,” Wilkens said in a statement.
Wilkens became the Sonics’ vice chairman last November, taking on the role of adviser on basketball operations to owner Clay Bennett and also working in community relations.
His role temporarily expanded in late April when the team reassigned general manager Rick Sund and fired coach Bob Hill. Wilkens was put in charge of the search to fill both positions, and was promoted to president of basketball operations.
That promotion wasn’t without confusion. Wilkens announced his new job on a Seattle sports radio station; the team briefly denied that Wilkens had been promoted before confirming the move.
When the Sonics hired Sam Presti as their general manager on June 7, Bennett announced that Presti held authority on all basketball-related decisions, and Wilkens would resume his role as vice chairman.
Wilkens has not been seen at any Sonics-related events since Presti was hired.
Wilkens’ “insight into basketball and the Sonics’ legacy in Seattle helped us greatly as we retooled our basketball operation,” Bennett said in a statement. “He has been an important resource and connection to the community as we continue in our efforts to secure the future of the Sonics in Seattle.”
Bennett appears to be slowly distancing himself from those who have past history with the Sonics. Wilkens’ resignation is added to the loss of assistant coach and former player Jack Sikma; and the selection P.J. Carlesimo as head coach, instead of Dwane Casey, a former Sonics assistant.
Wilkens, the NBA’s career victory leader, coached the Sonics to their only championship in 1979. He spent 11 seasons as a player-coach or coach of the Sonics, part of his 32 seasons as an NBA coach. He has a career mark of 1,332-1,155.
Durant leads all
Kevin Durant took his Sonics debut in stride on the first day of the NBA Summer League. Durant led all scorers with 18, but he shot just 5 of 17 from the field in a 77-66 loss to the Dallas Mavericks.
He was scoreless in the first quarter before tallying 13 points in the second quarter.
“I had good shots,” Durant said. “They just weren’t falling. I wanted to keep being aggressive, and in the second quarter it started to come for me. Unfortunately, we lost.”
Jeff Green, who was taken by the Celtics with the No. 5 pick in the draft before being traded to Seattle, scored seven points.