Al Attles’ Life story and Legacy, NBA career, Coaching career, Wife, 2 children, Awards, Net worth.

Alvin Austin Attles Jr. was an American professional basketball player, coach, and executive who spent his entire career with the Golden State Warriors of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed the "Destroyer", he played the point guard position. Attles was selected by the Warriors in the 1960 NBA draft and played 11 seasons with the team, including moving with the team from Philadelphia to the San Francisco Bay Area in 1962. He took over as player-coach during the 1970 to 1971 season, his last as a player. He remained the team's head coach after his playing retirement and led the Warriors to an NBA championship in 1975. He stepped down as head coach in 1983 and then served as general manager for the Warriors from 1983 to 1986. Attles was employed by the Warriors for the rest of his life, serving in roles including team ambassador and community relations representative. Attles's number 16 was retired by the Warriors in 1977. He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2019. Attles died at his Oakland, California, home on August 20, 2024, at the age of 87. He had spent weeks in hospice care.
Al Attles was born on November 7, 1936 in Newark, New Jersey, United States. Attles married his wife, Wilhemina Rice, in 1963; his Warriors teammate, Wilt Chamberlain, was his best man. The couple had two children. His grandson, Isaiah Attles, played college basketball for the Alcorn State Braves. Attles was friends with Bill Cosby and Les McCann. Attles was a Christian who followed the Catholic teachings. 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 Golden State Warriors 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 many strive to achieve. He left behind a profound legacy within the game of basketball and the Bay Area community, and especially as a family man and humanitarian.
He was a graduate of Weequahic High School in Newark, New Jersey, and North Carolina A&T State University. He had a bachelor's degree in Physical Education and History along with a master's degree in Curriculum and Instruction. Before the Warriors drafted him he intended to return to Newark and coach at his local junior high school. He initially declined before accepting and going to training camp.
Attles was drafted by the then-Philadelphia Warriors in 1960 as a fifth-round selection. On March 2, 1962, he was the team's second-leading scorer with 17 points, shooting a perfect 8-of-8 on field goals and 1-of-1 on free throws, on the night Wilt Chamberlain scored 100 points. Attles moved with the team to the Bay Area at the end of the 1962 season, playing until 1971. Attles was known as "the Destroyer" due to his defensive specialities along with once punching a player in the jaw. He was a reserve on the 1964 Warriors team (with Wilt Chamberlain and Guy Rodgers) that reached the NBA Finals and lost to the Boston Celtics, four games to one. Attles also played on the Warriors' 1967 team that lost to Chamberlain's 68 to 13 Philadelphia 76ers in a six-game championship series.
Attles was named player-coach of the Warriors midway through the 1969to1970 season, succeeding George Lee. He was one of the first African-American head coaches in the NBA. He retired as a player after the 1970 to 1971 season, and stayed on as head coach, guiding the Rick Barry-led Warriors to the 1975 NBA championship over the heavily favored Washington Bullets, making him the second African-American coach to win an NBA title (the first was Bill Russell). Attles's team tried to repeat the following season, but they lost to the Phoenix Suns in the conference finals in seven games. The team would make the playoffs only once more for the remainder of his tenure as coach. Attles tore his Achilles tendon during the 1979 to 1980 season and missed 21 games which were covered by his assistant Johnny Bach.
Attles coached the Warriors until 1983, compiling a 557 to 518 regular-season record (588 to 548 including playoffs) with six playoff appearances in 14 seasons. From 1983 to 1986, Attles worked as the Warriors' general manager. He is the longest-serving coach in Warriors history, and also has the most wins in franchise history. Attles returned as an assistant coach for the Warriors for the 1994to 1995 season.
In 2014, Attles was the recipient of the John W. Bunn Lifetime Achievement Award, an annual basketball award given by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame to an individual who has contributed significantly to the sport of basketball; the award is the Basketball Hall of Fame's highest honor besides enshrinement.