GREENSBORO, N.C. (WGHP) — Basketball Hall of Famer and North Carolina A&T State University alumnus Alvin Attles has died at the age of 87, according to his longtime team, the Golden State Warriors.
Attles died on Tuesday surrounded by family at his East Bay home.
“The Golden State Warriors mourn the loss of franchise legend Alvin Attles, who passed away yesterday at the age of 87,” the team said in a post on X. “Alvin 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.”
In a further statement, the team wrote, “Alvin Attles did not just epitomize what it meant to be a Warrior—he was Mr. Warrior. 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.”
Attles joined the Philadelphia Warriors in 1960, launching a 60-plus-year career with the team, “the longest stint with a single franchise for any one person in NBA history,” according to a news release from the team.
He played for 11 years, averaging 8.9 points, 3.5 rebounds and 3.5 assists across 711 regular-season games. For the last two of those years, Attles was the club’s player/coach.
He spent more than 13 years as coach with a regular season coaching record was 557-518 (.518), which the team touted as “the most wins by a head coach in franchise history.” Under his leadership, the team won its first championship of its West Coast Era in the 1975 NBA Finals.
He coached through the 1982-83 season before becoming the general manager of the Warriors, a position he held for three years.
The Warriors retired his number, #16, and he was added to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in the Class of 2019. He also received the John W. Bunn Lifetime Achievement Award and was a co-recipient of the 2017 National Basketball Coaches Association’s Chuck Daly Lifetime Achievement Award.
Flowers can be addressed to Fouche’s Hudson Funeral Home at 3665 Telegraph Avenue, Oakland, California 94609, and donations can be made to the Attles Center for Excellence in lieu of flowers.
