Atlanta--Lenny Wilkens, coach of the Atlanta Hawks and the winningest coach in basketball, addressed about 200 teens and adults at the first “Life Night” at the Cathedral of Christ the King, Sunday, Sept. 10.

Wilkens, a parishioner of the cathedral, told the teens that no matter how many games he wins or how many awards he receives he will always place his career behind his faith and family.

“Faith makes everything else possible,” he said. “We all know that there is someone greater than we are. It’s just that we don’t always want to give testimony to it.”

Wilkens, coach of the 1996 men’s Olympic basketball team, grew up in Brooklyn, N.Y., and began his basketball career at Providence College after Father Thomas Mannion, a local priest, encouraged him to apply for a scholarship.

“I’m a living example that prayer works,” Wilkens said. “Without my mom’s prayers and Father Mannion’s guidance, I don’t know where I’d be.”

Stressing that a youth’s attitude toward life can determine the attitude his life attains, Wilkens told the teens that they must have courage to stand up for their values and beliefs.