The Golden State Warriors announced last week that franchise icon Al Attles, who passed away earlier this year, will be honored with a band on their uniforms for the 2024-25 season. The band will feature “16” in reference to Attles’ jersey number, which was retired by the organization. The team will also honor Attles with a moment of silence and video tribute during the team’s home opener on Sunday, October 27th against the Clippers.
Back in 1960, the Philadelphia Warriors drafted Attles in the 5th round of the NBA Draft. Attles spent 11 years as a player for the team, following them as they moved west to become the San Francisco Warriors and then Golden State Warriors. In 1968, he added assistant coach to his responsibilities, took over as head coach his final season as a player, then remained the head man through 1983. After coaching, he remained the team’s general manager for a few additional seasons before working as a team ambassador and in community relations until his passing.
For his career, Attles averaged 8.9 points, 3.5 assists, and 3.5 rebounds. He wasn’t much of a shooter from the field or from the free-throw line, but the reason no one could unseat Attles from the rotation was not just his defense and rebounding, but his intelligence, competitiveness, and leadership.
After a masterful coaching job took the ragtag 1974-75 Warriors to the NBA Finals against the heavily-favored Washington Bullets, Attles was at the helm of a massive upset and became the second Black head coach in NBA history to win a title.
Attles got the Warriors very close to a repeat in 1976, losing Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals to the Suns.
The Warriors retired his No. 16 jersey, then the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame gave him their lifetime achievement award in 2014. Five years later, Attles was inducted as a general contributor to the game, a fitting honor for a man who did it all for the Warriors franchise.
