Wilkens became the winningest coach in NBA history Friday night, with No. 939, when his Atlanta Hawks beat the Washington Bullets 112-90, moving him past Red Auerbach on his fourth attempt.
With the game no longer in doubt, assistant coach Dick Helm gave Wilkens a cigar, drawing a big smile from nonsmoker Wilkens, and then gave him a light.
The normally stoic Wilkens kept smiling through the final minute and told the crowd after the game, "I lit the cigar up as a testament to Red Auerbach, who I think was one of the finest coaches in the NBA."
The record came in the 32nd game of Wilkens' 22nd season, lifting his record to 939-793, a .542 percentage. Wilkens has one NBA title, in 1979, in the second of his two stints with Seattle, and also has coached at Cleveland and Portland.
Auerbach, the cigar-chomping genius who built the Boston Celtics into a dynasty, had a 938-479 record, a .662 percentage, during his 20 seasons at the helm.
Kenny Norman led the Hawks with 23 points, and Mookie Blaylock added 20. Rookie Juwan Howard scored 16 for the Bullets.
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