Sacramento coach Doug Christie was born and raised in Seattle. The SuperSonics meant everything to him as a kid. And when he heard the news about the death of Lenny Wilkens, who meant the world to basketball fans in that city, Christie couldn't hold back the tears.

“Without him,” Christie said, “I'm not here.”

The tributes — many of them emotional — began being offered quickly Sunday as the NBA world mourned the death of Wilkens, a three-time enshrinee into the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame for what he did first as a silky-smooth player and then as a soft-spoken coach who not only coached the Sonics to an NBA title in 1979 but also guided his country to an Olympic gold medal in 1996.

“An unbelievable man,” Golden State coach Steve Kerr said. “Just an incredible man.”

Kerr played for W

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