National Basketball Association coach Lenny Wilkens of the New York Knicks announced his resignation Saturday.
Wilkens' decision came following a long meeting with team president Isiah Thomas in the wake of the Knicks 92-91 loss to the Houston Rockets at Madison Square Garden Friday night. He still had two seasons and $10 million left on his contract.
The 67-year-old Wilkens guided the Knicks to a 23-19 record last season and took them to the playoffs for the first time since 2001. But this season the Knicks have won 17 and lost 22, including nine out of their last 10 games. They have lost five straight and are mired in third place in the weak Atlantic Division.
Wilkens is a Hall of Famer as both a coach and player. He also holds the distinction of being both the winningest and losingest coach in NBA history, with 1,332 wins and 1,155 losses in 32 seasons with six different teams. He won his lone NBA title with the SuperSonics in 1979 and coached the United States to a gold medal in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.
Thomas has named assistant coach and former Knicks player Herb Williams as head coach for the remainder of the season.
Some information provided by AP.