Alvin Austin Attles Jr. was a basketball player for the National Basketball Association (NBA) who played his entire career with the Golden State (California) Warriors and later became one of the first African American coaches in the NBA, where he coached the Warriors to their first NBA championship in 1975. Attles was born on November 7, 1936, to Alvin Attles Sr. and Geraldine Attles in Newark, New York.
Attles attended Weequahic High School in Newark and after graduation, he matriculated at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University in Greensboro, North Carolina, where he received a bachelor’s degree in physical education and history in 1960. The Philadelphia (Pennsylvania) Warriors drafted Attles in the 1960 NBA Draft. While playing with the Warriors, Attles gained a reputation for his defensive abilities on the court, receiving the nickname “the Destroyer.”
On March 2, 1962, Attles played in the game with his teammate Wilt Chamberlain, who scored 100 points in a single game against the New York Knicks. Attles also played in two NBA finals during his career. The first one was in the 1964 NBA Finals, when the Warriors lost to the Boston (Massachusetts) Celtics four games to one. Later he was a part of the San Francisco Warriors team that made the 1967 NBA Finals and was defeated by former teammate Chamberlain, Philadelphia 76ers, in six games.
During the 1969-1970 NBA season, Attles became a player-coach, replacing George Lee. That appointment made him one of the first African American coaches in the NBA. He retired from the NBA following the 1970-1971 season at 35 but remained head coach with the team following his retirement.
Attles’ best NBA season came as a head coach came in 1974-1975 when he led the Golden State Warriors to their first NBA Championship against the Washington Bullets (Now Washington Wizards). Attles became the second African American coach in NBA history to win a Championship, following Bill Russell, who coached the Celtics to a championship during the 1967-1968 season.
Attles remained head coach of the Warriors until the 1983-1984 season, ending his coaching career with the Warriors, compiling a 557-518 regular season record and 588-548 record including playoffs. He led the Warriors to six playoff appearances in 14 seasons. He also became the longest-serving coach in the Warriors’ history.
From 1983 to 1986, Attles was the Warriors general manager, but he returned as an assistant coach for the team, during the 1994-1995 NBA season. In 1993 Al Attles was inducted into the Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame. In 2014, Attles received the John W. Bunn Lifetime Achievement Award from the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. The same year the Warriors retired his playing number, 16. In 2017, he was named a Chuck Daly Lifetime Achievement Award recipient and in 2019, Attles was introduced into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
Attles was once married to Wilhelmina Rice Attles in 1964. The couple had two children named Alvin III and Ericka. Alvin Austin Attles Jr. died on August 20, 2024 at the age of 87.
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“Alvin Austin Attles Jr,” The New York Times, https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/21/sports/al-attles-dead.html; “Alvin Austin Attles Jr,” ESPN, https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/40941565/al-attles-former-warriors-player-coach-gm-dies-87; “Alvin Austin Attles Jr,” NBA, https://www.nba.com/stats/player/76070.
