Hawks legend Dominique Wilkins was recently inducted into the Hall of Fame, as you may have heard. We here at Hawks.com cannot get enough of Nique, and are constantly scouring the internet for video of his days as the Human Highlight Film. On December 1st, the Hawks will be honoring Dominique as part of Hardwood Classic Nights, with the team wearing throwback uniforms representing the 1986 season.

To get ready for the festivities, Hawks.com is counting down the 21 greatest moments of Wilkins' career. Check back daily as we update the countdown every weekday leading up to the Dec. 1 match-up with the Cleveland Cavaliers.

October 29, 1982: Dominique Wilkins makes his NBA debut, scoring 23 points against the Pistons.

After coming to Atlanta via a trade with the Utah Jazz, Nique made his debut in a Hawks uniform at the start of the 1982-83 season. Right off the bat Hawks fans got a glimpse of what was in store for them for the next decade, as Wilkins scored 23 points in a 94-86 loss to Detroit.

Nique would go on to average 17.5 ppg during his inaugural season (the only time in his tenure as a Hawk that he scored less than 20 points per game) and make the NBA's All-Rookie team.

Mike Glenn
teammate during 1982-83 season
"The thing I remember most about that night was how excited Dominique was. I'd never seen someone so enthusiastic. As a veteran, you become used to the game, one game doesn't necessarily make you more excited than another, but he was just bursting from the get go.

The lesson I learned that night was, exchanging high-fives with Dominique is dangerous. He does it so hard! I was a shooter you know, so I learned to be very wary of him after that night. I didn't want him hurting my shooting hand, so I tried to stay away from high-fiving him too much after that (laughing).

That night we saw the raw energy and passion that Dominique brought to the game, and we saw the kind of work ethic that would lead him to become one of the best scorers the game has ever seen."