SAD NEWS😭 NBA champion coach and member of the Basketball Hall of Fame passes away at age 88.
Former Golden State Warriors point guard, head coach and general manager Al Attles is shown during the first half of Game 2 of basketball’s NBA Finals between the Warriors and the Cleveland Cavaliers in Oakland, Calif., Sunday, June 4, 2017. Attles, a Naismith Basketball Hall of Famer, has died at age 88, the NBA announced. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez, File)AP
A native of Newark, New Jersey, Attles played college basketball at North Carolina A&T before being drafted by the then-Philadelphia Warriors in the fifth round of the 1960 NBA Draft. Attles played his first two years in Philadelphia for the Warriors, which relocated to San Francisco ahead of the 1962-63 NBA season.
This past season, Little averaged 3.4 points and 1.7 rebounds in 10.2 minutes per game for the Phoenix Suns. He only played 45 games while battling a knee injury.
Little’s best season came in 2021-2022, where he averaged 9.8 points and 5.6 rebounds in 25.9 minutes per game for the Portland Trail Blazers. Little spent his first four seasons with Portland, before being traded to Phoenix as a part of the Damian Lillard, Jrue Holiday and Deandre Ayton blockbuster deal on September 27, 2023.
Little’s physical gifts — like his impressive athleticism, 7-foot-1 wingspan, and fast-twitch explosiveness — have always shined in his game. Little is a respectable defender, and on the other end of the floor, he attacks the basket with a vengeance, making defenders think twice before stepping in his path.
