DOMINIQUE WILKINS - 101 Greats of European Basketball

Dominique
Wilkins
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An American
from Paris
In 1951, the movie “An American in Paris” was
named Best Picture by the Academy of Motion Picture
Arts and Sciences. The famed musical cleaned
up with six Academy Awards as the combination
of the dancing of stars Gene Kelly and Leslie Caron
and the music composed by George Gershwin,
worded by older brother Ira and orchestrated by
Saul Chaplin, conquered the world. Nine years later,
a true American was born in Paris and his personal
history has always been related to the French capital.
Jacques Dominique Wilkins was born in Paris on January
12, 1960, and later reached one of his greatest
triumphs in Paris. It was there, on April 11, 1996, that
Dominique Wilkins had one of the most memorable
days in his brilliant career: he became a EuroLeague
champion.
Wilkins had been a nine-time all-star, was voted to
the All-NBA team seven times, won a pair of slam dunk
contests, and was the league’s top scorer in 1986 with
30.3 points per game. Despite his brilliance, Wilkins’s
Atlanta Hawks never managed to win the title. He would
have to leave the NBA and join Panathinaikos Athens
in Greece to lift his first club trophy. But let’s not get
ahead of ourselves.
Spectacular dunks
Dominique Wilkins was born in Paris because his
father, a member of the United States Air Force, was
working in the French capital. I am guessing that his two
very French names have something to do with that fact,
too. However, when it was time to go to school, Dominique’s
family was already back in America, in the small
coastal town of Washington, North Carolina. There, a
young Wilkins led his high school team to back-to-back
state titles in 1978 and 1979. From there he moved on
to play college basketball at the University of Georgia,
which ironically enough is located in the city of Athens.
Wilkins became a star for the Bulldogs and was named
the 1981 South Eastern Conference player of the year.
Three years at Georgia were enough for Wilkins
to prove his worth and readiness for the next level. In
the 1982 NBA draft, he was selected with the number
3 overall pick, behind James Worthy and Terry Cummings.
Wilkins was drafted by the Utah Jazz, but in
what would turn out to be a one-sided deal, his rights
were acquired by Atlanta in exchange for John Drew,
Freeman Williams and cash.
Thus, began a brilliant NBA career. When he retired,
Wilkins had played in 1,074 games, scored 26,668
points (24.8 ppg.) and pulled down 7,169 rebounds (6.7
rpg.). His best season came in 1985-86 when Wilkins
led all NBA scorers with 30.3 points per game. He
scored a lot of points and did so in spectacular fashion.
His enormous physical power allowed him to execute
unbelievable plays, including thrilling dunks. Accordingly,
he was dubbed The Human Highlight Film. At the
1985 and 1990 all-star games, Wilkins beat the great
Michael Jordan in the dunk contest with his 360-degree
slam. It was simply unforgettable.
At the 1994 World Championships in Toronto, Canada,
a 34-year-old Wilkins won the gold medal with the
Team USA along with Shaquille O’Neal, Reggie Miller,
Joe Dumars, Alonzo Mourning, Kevin Johnson and
Mark Price. Wilkins, with a total 101 points (12.6 ppg.)
101 greats of european basketball
Dominique Wilkins
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Vladimir Stankovic
was the third-best scorer on the second “Dream Team”,
behind only O’Neal (144) and Miller (137). And in the title
game against Russia, Wilkins led the Americans with
20 points en route to a 137-91 victory.
In Athens for the titles
When he was 35, Wilkins decided to leave the NBA
and try his luck in Europe. Many doubted that a player
his age, despite his experience and individual qualities,
would be able to contribute much. They were wrong.
Apart from a new challenge, Wilkins had four million
reasons to sign for the Greens of Athens, as that was
the number that European media mentioned when
talking about his contract: $4 million for a single season.
In Athens, Wilkins found a solid team with a great
point guard (Panagiotis Giannakis), a good young
forward (Fragiskos Alvertis) and a tower in the paint
(Stojko Vrankovic). Additionally, the talented prospect
Nikos Ekonomou, an experienced American playmaker
of Greek heritage, John Korfas, and Greek players Evangelos
Vourtzoumis and Tzanis Satvrakopoulos made
for a strong squad. Panathinaikos had failed in its two
previous Final Four appearances, in Tel Aviv 1994 and
Zaragoza 1995, but that didn’t tone down the ambitions
of the club to make Panathinaikos the first Greek team
to become European champion. That’s why, aside from
Wilkins, they had also signed Coach Bozidar Maljkovic,
a three-time champ, twice with Jugoplastika Split and
once with Limoges.
In the beginning, the tough and demanding Maljkovic
and a star like Wilkins were not a good match, but
little by little Maljkovic’s work and Wilkins’s versatility
started to bring results. Panathinaikos made the playoff
ranked third from Group B with a 9-5 record, behind
FC Barcelona (10-4) and tied with Real Madrid. In the
quarterfinals, the Greens got rid of Benetton Treviso
(2-1) and advanced to the Final Four in Paris. In Game 3
of that series, in Treviso, Panathinaikos clinched a spot
in Paris behind 26 points and 7 rebounds by Wilkins. It
was his best game with Panathinaikos to that point, but
the best was yet to come.
Before the Final Four, Panathinaikos won the Greek
Cup in March by defeating Panionios in the final, 85-74.
That was the first club trophy in Wilkins’s career, but
he wanted more – much more. And as usually happens
with great players, Wilkins played the best when his
team needed him the most. In the Final Four semifinal
against CSKA Moscow, he led the way with a season-high
35 points plus 8 rebounds as Panathinaikos
was victorious 81-71.
In the title game, on April 11, 1996, after a dramatic
finish complete with some mistakes by the scorers’ table
and the referees, Panathinaikos defeated Barcelona
67-66. Wilkins contributed 16 points and 10 boards and
was named Final Four MVP. His first season in Europe
ended with 20.1 points and 7.3 rebounds per game. The
season was not perfect, however. In the Greek League
finals, with Panathinaikos leading 2-1, Wilkins suffered
an injury and didn’t play in Games 4 or 5. Olympiacos
used that to turn the series around and take the title
with a 2-3 series win.
San Antonio and Bologna
After succeeding in Europe, Wilkins decided to return
to the NBA: He signed for the San Antonio Spurs,
where he finished the 1996-97 season at 37-and-a-half
years old and with a worthy average of 18.3 points in
61 games. The following season he decided to return
to Europe, this time to TeamSystem Bologna in Italy.
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On January 13, 2001, Wilkins saw his jersey No. 21
(in Europe he played with that number reversed, 12)
was retired in Atlanta. Only Bob Petit and Lou Hudson
before Wilkins had received that honor at the Georgia
Dome. He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial
Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts,
in 2006.
Dominique Wilkins wasn’t even the winningest
American player in European basketball, not the best
American player to ever play in Europe, but I would say
that, together with Bob McAdoo, he was the biggest
NBA star to ever play here.
Dominique Wilkins, an American from Paris.
In the Italian League, he averaged 17.8 points and 7.3
rebounds while in the Euroleague he averaged 17.9
points and 7.0 rebounds, but his club’s archrival, Kinder
Bologna, put an end to the team’s European dream this
time.
In the EuroLeague quarterfinals, Kinder eliminated
TeamSystem 2-0 and then in the Italian League final
series, Kinder succeeded 3-2 after an unbelievable fifth
game. If April 11 of 1996 was the happiest day Wilkins
experienced in Europe, May 31, 1998, was one to stick
in his memory forever for the opposite reasons. With
13 seconds to go, his team was 4 points ahead, 72-68,
and the title was almost secure. But then one of the
most famous plays in European basketball took place:
Predrag Danilovic hit a three with an additional free
throw from a foul committed by... Dominique Wilkins.
Danilovic scored the free throw, David Rivers turned
the ball over on the last offensive play for TeamSystem,
and Kinder won it all in overtime. It wasn’t the happiest
of endings to a brilliant career.
Dominique Wilkins
101 greats of european basketball
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