One of the 75 Greatest NBA players to ever lace up a pair of sneakers, Dominique Wilkins is also regarded as one of the greatest small forwards to ever play the game.
One of 22 players to score more than 25,000 points in his NBA career, Wilkins has the distinction of being the Atlanta Hawks’ all-time franchise leader in games (882), points (23,292). He left the NBA ranked seventh on the all-time scoring list with 26,534 points and 10th in career scoring average at 25.3 ppg.
The former high-flying 6-foot-8 forward who was named to seven All-NBA teams, nine consecutive All-Star squads, “The Human Highlight Film” detailed the evolution of the small forward position while appearing on Scoop B Radio.
“Well you know small forwards today are combo forwards,” said the former two-time NBA Slam Dunk Contest winner.
“They’re small forwards, slash, power forwards. In today’s world, I would’ve probably played both forward positions but I didn’t want no part of the power forwards, I wanted to play small because I had enough problems at small forward — Larry Bird, Dr. J, Bernard King, Alex English, [Adrian] Dantley, James Worthy, [Mark] Aguirre… guys like that. I had ENOUGH problems! So I didn’t want to go in there and bang with all those big guys around the basket.”
Carmelo Anthony, LeBron James Are NBA GOATs at Small Forward Position says Wilkins
Wilkins was a megastar during his 17-year NBA career. In addition to making exceptional, athletic plays at breathtaking speed, the third overall pick in the 1982 NBA Draft out of the University of Georgia, had career NBA averages of 24.8 points and 6.7 rebounds per contest. While Wilkins was a bright light before and during the Jordan-era of basketball, Wilkins tells Scoop B Radio, that he has a list of some of his favorite fellow small forwards “Oh man, you’ve got some winners in there,” he shared.
“I always go with the guys who were there before us, you know? Elgin Baylor. Doctor J, Larry Bird. Bernard King, myself. Of course, LeBron. [Alex] English, [Adrian] Dantley. You got Mark Aguirre; that’s who people don’t even talk about. But you know when you talking about top guys like LeBron in this era here being the best small forward he’s apart of ANY conversation of one of the greatest small forwards EVER.”
Wilkins also believes that Carmelo Anthony deserves to be in that conversation. Anthony, like Wilkins spent his childhood in Baltimore, Maryland and was named to the NBA’s 75th Anniversary Team. Anthony at his peak was one of the most lethal three-level scorers in the game, but was rarely equipped with proper supporting casts to get him over the postseason hump. A 10-time All-Star with the Denver Nuggets and New York Knicks, Anthony enjoyed deep playoff runs with both clubs, but never made an NBA Finals. He was also a six-time All-NBA honoree.“A Baltimore guy who brought it his whole career,” shared Wilkins.
“Carmelo Anthony? No question.”
LeBron James The Point Guard in Year 22 Praised By Human Highlight Film
Sticking with the small forward conversation, LeBron James., like Melo was drafted in the epic 2003 Draft class alongside Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. James who will turn 40 at the end of this month is still very active at season 22 in the NBA and like fine wine, the current Los Angeles Laker skills are getting better with time.
Wilkins who retired from basketball around the age of 39 years old, marvels at how James, a four-time NBA Champion is playing the role of defacto point guard in head coach, JJ Redick’s system in LA. “He’s whatever he wants to be,” laughed Wilkins.
“That’s what LeBron is. He’s whatever he wants to be because wherever he plays, he thrives so it don’t really matter, you know? He’s not a small forward or a guard. He’s just a helluva basketball player.”
NBA’s GOAT Conversation As Told By Dominique Wilkins
LBJ is consistently mentioned in the NBA’s GOAT conversation alongside Michael Jordan, a contemporary of Wilkins.
While that debate will go on forever and ever, one has to wonder who will be the new topic of debate between Air Jordan and King James after James ultimately retires. “You know there’s always going to be a debate,” shared Wilkins.
“It’s been a debate since the beginning of time so, I don’t personally believe in the GOAT. I believe in GOATS because it’s a lot of guys in different eras so how can you really judge or compare that.”
Michael Jordan, Isiah Thomas Beef, Freeze Out Game & 1992 Dream Team
Speaking of MJ, the 1985 NBA All Star Game was dubbed as the Freeze Out game.
It’s been said that veteran NBA players like Magic Johnson and Isiah Thomas”froze out” a young Michael Jordan during that game by not passing him the ball.
Jordan finished the game with just seven points on 2-of-9 shooting.
What happened in that game? “I’ma stay away from that one,” laughed Dominique Wilkins when he was asked about it on Scoop B Radio.
It has been widely believed that MJ held a grudge because of what he thought happened, even scoring 49 points in the next game played against Thomas’ Detroit Pistons.
The pettiness carried over into the 90s. In 1991, Jordan’s Bulls beat Thomas’ Pistons in the NBA’s Eastern Conference Finals. after losing three consecutive seasons to the Pistons. Before the final seconds had ticked off the clock, most of the Pistons squad, including Thomas, walked off the court in front of the Bulls bench and avoided any post-game congratulatory handshakes.
Many experts speculate that the combination of the MJ freeze out game and the Pistons walk off after the Bulls won the ECF led Jordan to retaliate against Thomas by informing the U.S. Basketball committee that he would not represent the red, white and blue in the Olympic Games in Barcelona in 1992 if Thomas played for USA Basketball. Magic Johnson and John Stockton were the Dream Team’s point guards.
Not Thomas.
On the ESPN documentary, The Last Dance, Jordan refuted any involvement in blocking Thomas by stating: “I respect Isiah Thomas’ talent. To me, the best point guard of all-time is Magic Johnson and right behind him is Isiah Thomas. No matter how much I hate him, I respect his game. Now, it was insinuated that I was asking about him; but I never threw his name in there.”
Isiah Thomas gave his perspective on he and MJ’s supposed beef by stating that he never knew that MJ felt that way about him. “Honestly until ‘The Last Dance,’ I never knew there was a beef,” Thomas shared by phone.
“You know again, I had gone out to dinner with him, I had seen him socially… I never knew that he felt THAT way about me. So again, I have no hard feelings against anyone and when I talk about the greatest players, I’m only talking about it from my perspective. No slight to anyone but, it’s just an acknowledgement of how great LeBron James is and what I’ve been watching. It’s just like the acknowledgement of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Now if people think that I’m trying to slight somebody by talking about these two, then they have an agenda of their own, not necessarily mine. So, but anyway what would we talk about?… I don’t know but… Hey look, I’m not afraid of anybody. I’ll sit down and speak with anybody and anybody who’s ever been around me, seen me, been close to me…I’m not one who walks around with fear and I’m not one who walks around with hate. So you know, like I said; I never knew that he felt that way until I watched the ‘Last Dance.’”
Will Michael Jordan and Isiah Thomas ever squash their beef? “Well, I think in time it will be hopefully,” shared Dominique Wilkins.
“You’d hope that’s the case. But in today’s world you never know.”
Dream Team II Overlooked?
Dominique Wilkins didn’t play on the ‘92 Dream Team. The team consisted of Jordan, Charles Barkley, Karl Malone, Chris Mullin, Clyde Drexler, Patrick Ewing, Scottie Pippen, David Robinson, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Christian Laettner and John Stockton. Every player on that team was a Hall of Famer except Christian Laettner, who didn’t become a star in the NBA after being a dominant force in college at Duke.
Wilkins is often mentioned among the greatest players not to make “The Dream Team.”
“I was hurt,” Wilkins told Scoop B Radio.
“I tore my achilles tendon, so I was hurt during that time and if I wasn’t hurt I would’ve been on there for sure.”
Two years later, Wilkins was finally healthy enough to play for Team USA and was even appointed to lead “The Dream Team II,” a multi-All-Star squad composed of mostly younger current NBA stars in the FIBA World Championships.
Due to the lasting impact and glare of the Original Dream Team, Wilkins and The Dream Team II were significantly outshone. In fact, some even called the squad “The Forgotten” due to the fact that the roster was stacked, but its prominence was just in passing.
“We always get overlooked,” said Wilkins.
“You understand the guys that was on that Dream Team? And the strength and power that we had up front that we had with Shaq and [Alonzo] Mourning and Kemp and Derrick Coleman? We had some MONSTERS! And Larry Johnson?”
Dream II also had Joe Dumars, Kevin Johnson, Anfernee Hardaway, Scottie Pippen, Dan Majerle, Reggie Miller, Mark Price, and Steve Smith. Gary Payton, also a member of Dream Team II also believes the team is overlooked. “We took six of their originals from Dream Team 1 and added six more, so that was our 12,” Payton told Scoop B Radio.
“I think Dream Team II was a beast, man. We competed every day just like Dream Team 1 did. But you know, I like that team because I was on that team [Dream Team II] you know? And then I was on the 2000 Olympic Team when they went to [Sydney], Australia but I STILL like the one that I was on in ’96 which I think was the BEST Dream Team I think.”
Like the Original Dream Team, The Dream Team II also finished the FIBA Basketball World Cup unbeaten (8-0). They mauled Russia 137–91 in the Final to take home the gold. . “A lot of times it’s about What have you done for me lately,” says Wilkins.
“That’s what it’s about.”
Dominique Wilkins discussed tons. Make sure to click here to watch his interview on Scoop B Radio In Full!
