The legend of the Atlanta Hawks had exciting duels with MJ and Larry Bird, but usually came up short. The team didn’t succeed, despite or because of Wilkins. The High Flyer polarized and has been somewhat forgotten today. Wrongfully.
There is a certain myth surrounding Dominique Wilkins’ name. Every NBA fan has probably seen the 1988 Dunk Contestseen somewhere when Wilkins competed against Michael Jordan in the Chicago Stadium, i.e. in the Bull’s arena, and lost unfortunately.
“You probably should have won. You know that, I know that. But hey, we’re in Chicago. What do I have to tell you?” Jordan said at the time, according to Wilkins. MJ ultimately won with a 50 for his famous dunk from the free throw line, Wilkins had just received a 45 for his two-handed windmill dunk from the baseline and lost by two points.
For Wilkins, the Dunk Contest did nothing to change his reputation as one of the best dunkers of all time. The Hawks star won the show event in 1985 and 1990, and his Dunk mixtape is still considered one of the best today, as is his nickname “The Human Highlight Film.”
This article originally appeared in September 2022 as part of NBA legends archive from SPOX. On the occasion of Wilkins’ 66th birthday, the story will now be published again on January 12, 2025.
