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Dominique
Wilkins
VP-Basketball
Atlanta Spirit, LLC
NBA.com
History: Dominique Wilkins Profile
The
most celebrated player to ever put on a Hawks uniform, Hall-of-Famer Dominique
Wilkins enters his fifth season as the Hawks' Vice President of Basketball.
Previously the team's Special Assistant to the Executive Vice President and
Player Development Assistant, Wilkins works in various management functions
within the organization's basketball and business areas, and as the team’s
analyst for the Hawks broadcast networks.
Wilkins is responsible for advising the senior management team on
basketball-related issues and working as a strong voice in the community. The
6-8 forward, who concluded his NBA career with 26,668 points, is the ninth
all-time leading scorer in league history and his 24.8 career scoring average is
11th on the all-time charts. Wilkins' 23,292 points with the Hawks are the
franchise's best, and he ranks second overall in team history in steals (1,245),
fourth in rebounds (6,119), fifth in blocked shots (592) and sixth in assists
(2,322). One of league's true marquee players, his outstanding contributions on
the court were recognized by the organization in January 2001 when he became the
third player in club history to have his uniform number (#21) retired, joining
Hawks legends Bob Pettit and Lou Hudson.
Familiar to area sports fans from his collegiate days at the University of
Georgia, Wilkins entered the 1982 NBA Draft after his junior season with the
Bulldogs. He ended his Georgia career as the school's all-time scoring leader
with averages of 21.6 points to go along with his 7.5 rebounds. A three-time
All-SEC performer who also took home the Most Valuable Player award from the
1981 Southeastern Conference tournament, he was selected as the third overall
pick in the first round by the Utah Jazz.
Hawks officials valued his talents enough to send two players (John Drew and
Freeman Williams) and cash to the Utah Jazz on September 2, 1982 for his draft
rights, and the end result was beneficial for both parties. Wilkins was able to
continue his career in front of familiar faces, and Atlanta had its first
superstar since Pete Maravich.
Instrumental in the team's success in the mid-to-late '80s, Wilkins electrified
Atlanta sports fans as the club recorded 50-win seasons four straight times from
1985-86 to 1988-89. He averaged 29.1 points over that period, and in the 1988
All-Star Game he ripped the nets for 29 points in 30 minutes of action.
A playoff participant in eight of his 12 seasons with the Hawks, his finest hour
came during the 1988 postseason when Atlanta narrowly missed reaching the
Eastern Conference Finals, as the Boston Celtics eked out a two-point victory in
Game 7 of the conference semifinals. Wilkins averaged 31.2 points in 12 playoff
contests that year, and having participated in ten years of playoff competition,
scored 25.4 points per game.
After missing only 18 of a possible 738 regular season games his first nine
years, Wilkins' durability took a serious blow when he suffered a season-ending
tear of Achilles tendon midway through the 1991-92 season. While it was unsure
if he would return to his old high-flying self, Wilkins responded the next
season by scoring 29.9 points per game to finish second only to Michael Jordan
for the league scoring title.
He was a member of the NBA All-Rookie Team in 1983 and was named to seven
All-NBA teams, nine consecutive All-Star squads and was a two-time winner of the
NBA Slam Dunk Championship.
On November 6, 1992 against the New York Knicks, a patented baseline jumper led
to Wilkins becoming the 17th person in league history to join the 20,000-point
club, and later that season (February 2, 1993 against Seattle) he supplanted
Pettit as the franchise's all-time leading scorer. His stellar career in Atlanta
came to an end on February 24, 1994 when the Hawks traded him to the Los Angeles
Clippers for Danny Manning. At the conclusion of the year, Wilkins decided to
test the free agent market and signed with the Boston Celtics.
Discouraged with his performance in 1994-95, which resulted in career lows in
scoring and field goal percentage, Wilkins joined Panathinaikos Athens of the
Greek League the following season (1995-96). He was named MVP of the European
Final Four after averaging 20.9 points and 7.0 rebounds and leading the team to
the European Men's Championship.
Seeking a return to the States, Wilkins signed a free agent contract with San
Antonio and provided more than the Spurs possibly imagined, leading the David
Robinson-less Spurs in scoring with an 18.2 average and grabbing 6.4 rebounds.
He returned overseas for the 1997-98 campaign, signing with Italy's Teamsystem
before rejoining the NBA for his final professional season (1998-99), as Wilkins
saw action in 27 games for the Orlando Magic.
Extremely active with local and national charity endeavors, Wilkins has done
work with the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, Cystic Fibrosis Foundation,
Special Olympics, Muscular Dystrophy Association and American Lung Association.
In July 2007, Wilkins launched "Nique and Newt's Full-Court Press on Diabetes"
with former Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, Newt
Gingrich.
Wilkins, 48, was born on January 12, 1960 in Paris, France. He and his wife
Robin have two boys and a girl together, and he is also the proud parent of four
other daughters. He joined basketball's immortals with his entry into the
Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame on September 8, 2006, was inducted
into the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame on April 3, 2004, and into the Atlanta
Sports Hall of Fame's inaugural class on June 10, 2005.
