Lenny Wilkens Interview (page: 2 / 7) Basketball Hall of Fame	Print Interview

I understand this was a pretty tough neighborhood, but obviously you were able to rise above it. What was it like?

Lenny Wilkens: It was hard.

Get the Flash Player to see this video. There were many times when I had to fight to get home from school. But you couldn't back down, because if you backed down what happens is you got picked on all the time. So even if I lost a fight they knew that I would fight so they wouldn't bother you anymore. And, you know, if you went ten blocks in any direction, there were gangs and my mother didn't want me involved in any of that, and she was a very strong personality. She felt that there was always something better but it was up to me. And so the friends that I started surrounding myself with had the same kind of ideas that I had. They had both parents, which was fine, you know, that pushed them and helped them. But, there were many times when we were in situations that we had to get out of in order to get home. But like I said, you know, you don't allow yourself to be intimidated.

[ Key to Success ] Courage

Not that I'm going to stand there and fight ten people. You don't do that. But if they found out were an athlete, for some reason they didn't bother you as much. They would let you go to different places. But you had to be careful where you went, and what time you went in those areas, especially if you were at a party or something. It was very tough. We were in a lot of harrowing situations at times, but we got through them.

Did you have any setbacks along the way other than having to fight your home sometimes? It sounds like a fairly smooth transition from high school to college scholarship, to the NBA. Were there times when you had doubts about yourself or setbacks?

Lenny Wilkens: There were times. In high school I had a few great teachers, but I also had some teachers that I didn't think were very good. Because we had a few rowdy kids in class they labeled the whole class. I remember one teacher telling us that we'd never go anywhere, that the best thing we could hope for is to go to trade school and stuff like that. But I didn't pay any attention to what she was saying.

Certainly, there were parties that we weren't invited to. When you come from a family of five i,t was always important that the girls have something to wear. The boys could just get by.

Get the Flash Player to see this video. As I got into high school and started to move through high school, at the various parties, some I wouldn't get invited to because I lived in a tenement house, or you didn't get invited because of the type of clothes you wore. I mean, I didn't have the nice clothes like other people had, you know. And young people are very impressionable, and I'm sure those things can play havoc with people, but I refused to let it bother me. I mean, I don't know where it came from, but I always felt that I was as good as the next person, and I didn't care what they had. You know? I didn't know I was that poor until later on.

Get the Flash Player to see this video. I think Father Mannion had a lot to do with encouraging me and letting me know that I was as good as the next person and that I could achieve this, whatever it was, you know. And, I like challenges. I mean, he was always putting me in areas of responsibility. I'll give you an example. One time he had me coach a girls team, and now here I'm a young guy, you know, and girls are all of a sudden becoming attractive. But he put me in an area of responsibility and I would never do anything that would cause him to feel badly towards me.

I remember one time I was hanging out with some guys from the neighborhood. They weren't bad guys but they would give people flat tires, and some of them gravitated to other things. My mother found out I was hanging out with these guys, and she told Father Mannion. He brought me into his office over at the school and sat me down and told me he didn't want to ever see me with them again. So there were some difficult moments, not only in high school but even in college when I began to be exposed to the real world.

Get the Flash Player to see this video. I saw prejudice in the world, and it bothered me that the Church didn't speak out against it more forcefully. It does today, but it didn't at that time. And I have a lot of people I know who turned away from the Church or were upset, you know, and everything. But in turning away they turned away from God too, and I said, "Wait a minute, you know. God gives us free will to do what we want to do. Okay? So why should I indict him for something some human being is doing?" And so I refused to do that, you know. But I was disappointed in a lot of people who were in the Church, okay, because of them not speaking out, and even their attitudes.

[ Key to Success ] Integrity

It sounds like your mother was very concerned about your future. What did she expect you to do with your life?

Lenny Wilkens: My mother's idea of a career or profession was either being a priest or a doctor. I may have disappointed her a little bit. When I graduated from high school, I was like a lot of young people. I really wasn't sure what I wanted to do. There were a lot of ideas in my head. I knew that whatever it was, I wanted to get a good job. I was impressed with a history teacher when I was in high school, and thought that maybe teaching would be it.

It was a guy named Mr. Schuller at Boy's High, the high school I went to in Brooklyn. He made you feel like you were actually there experiencing whatever he described. Being a youngster who visualized very easily, I could just see myself in every one of these situations that we covered, and so I thought maybe I'd be a history teacher.

Later on I thought maybe I'd be an accountant. I wanted to learn about business. I wanted to learn about something I never had, which was money, and how to deal with it. In college I majored in economics, and in my money and banking classes subscribed to the Wall Street Journal, so I followed the stock market. I had landed an assistantship to Boston College to get my masters right after I graduated because I had done so well.

Given your mother's preference for you to follow the priesthood or medicine, what was her reaction when you began to get serious about basketball?

Lenny Wilkens: As long as I did my school work and it didn't interfere with work after school, she didn't mind. But she didn't have a clue, and when I got a scholarship to Providence College that was a real surprise to her. My sophomore year we came down to New York to play St. John's University at Madison Square Gardens and that was probably the first time she ever saw me play. I guess she became a real fan. My sisters and tell me she used to get really excited at the games. She didn't want anybody to touch me.

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