Great cards of the great Lenny Wilkens
Lenny Wilkens, a 9-time NBA All-star and 4-time NBA All-star game coach, passed away on Sunday, November 9 at his home, according to multiple reports.
Wilkens was drafted No. 6 overall by the St. Louis Hawks in the 1960 NBA Draft, sharing the night with fellow hall of famers Oscar Roberts and Jerry West. He went on to play for the Seattle Supersonics, Cleveland Cavaliers, and the Portland Trailblazers. He coached for Sonics, Trail Blazers, Cavaliers, Atlanta Hawks, Toronto Raptors and the New York Knicks. He won a championship with the Trail Blazers in 1979 and was coach of the year in 1994 with the Atlanta Hawks.
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1961 Fleer
You can find Wilkens' rookie card in the 1961 Fleer set. It's a simple and clean design, featuring a bust shot of Lenny Wilkens and with his first name listed just as 'Len.' The 1961 Fleer set is legendary, and includes rookie cards of not only Wilkens, but fellow 1961 draftees Oscar Robertson and Jerry West. But it also includes rookie cards of Wilt Chamberlain and Elgin Baylor, who were drafted before 1961.
While prices have not been consistent with for a PSA 6, according to eBay sold listings, this card sells between $150 and $250.
1971 Topps
The 1970 Topps set, the tall boys cards, includes Lenny Wilkens' first card as a Seattle Supersonics. Ironically when he left the Hawks via trade, the Hawks also left St. Louis and re-located to Atlanta. Wilkens spent four seasons in Seattle and was an All-star each season he was a Supersonic.
According to eBay sold listings, a collector can add a PSA 7 to their collection for around $30 to $60.
1991 NBA Hoops
One of Lenny Wilkens most important cards post-playing career is his 1991 NBA Hoops, card number 586. The card features an aged Wilkens, dressed in his USA Basketball coaching shirt, this card represents his time coaching the NBA Dream Team. He won two gold medals with Team USA. This also happens to be one of his cards where he's listed as 'Lenny' instead of 'Len.'
This card is fairly inexpensive to add to you collection. According to eBay sold listings, you can grab this piece for around $30.
After graduating from the University of North Dakota in 2008, Cole worked as an advertising copywriter until shifting to print journalism a few years later. Managing three weekly newspapers in the Dakotas, Cole won numerous awards from the North Dakota Newspaper Association including Best of the Dakotas and, their top award, General Excellence. He returned to collecting in 2021 and has since combined his passion for writing with his love of cards. Cole also writes for the Sports Cards Nonsense newsletter and has made guest appearances on multiple sports card collecting podcasts including Sports Cards Nonsense, and the Eephus Baseball Cards Podcast. IG: coleryan411 X: @colebenz