Lenny Wilkens, a legendary professional basketball player and coach, brought a message of hope and inspiration to Wesley Homes Retirement Communities’ campus in Des Moines during an appearance there Oct. 13.
Wilkens, 78, whose experience in basketball included stints as a coach and player for the Seattle Supersonics, talked about growing up in Bedford-Stuyvesant, which he recalled as “a true melting pot” in New York City.
He also discussed the Lenny Wilkens Foundation, which has raised $7.5 million to support programs and services for children in the Puget Sound area, his faith, having an absent father, and how he did not let the conditions of his youth confine him.
“You can either allow your circumstances to be a trap that snares you the rest of your life, or you can use them to learn what it takes to succeed in a world where things won’t always go your way,” said Wilkens.
Wilkens won a National Basketball Association championship while coaching Seattle, was voted one of the NBA’s 50 greatest players of all time, and won a gold medal as a coach in the 1996 Olympics.