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RantSports recently had the opportunity to sit down with former Atlanta Hawks great, and NBA Hall of Famer, Dominique Wikins, as he teams with Allstate to hand out the 2015 Champions For Good Awards. In honor of the announcement, Wilkins will be giving back in Atlanta alongside volunteers from Allstate at the Books for Africa warehouse to help sort and pack books to donate both overseas and to a local Atlanta library. Prior to this wonderful event, RantSports was able to ask Wilkins a myriad of questions ranging from the day he was drafted by the Utah Jazz to his current job as Vice President of Basketball Operations with the Hawks.
For the purposes of this interview, RantSports will be defined as “RS,” and Dominique Wilkins will be “DW”:
RS: Do you believe you would’ve had the same amount of success had you stayed with the Utah Jazz, the team that drafted you?
DW: It’s hard to say. I had a wonderful career with the Atlanta Hawks, and I wouldn’t change a thing. Looking back, I would have done things the exact same way.
RS: Being one of the best dunkers of all time, did you take pride in dunking, or was it more for the fans?
DW: Dunking wasn’t something I tried to do. I had the God-given ability to do it, but it was only a part of my game. It wasn’t something that I focused on.
RS: Can you describe Game 6 of the 1988 Eastern Conference Semifinals against Larry Bird and the Boston Celtics?
DW: That was the greatest game I’ve ever been a part of, and one of the greatest NBA games of all time. Larry Bird was amazing, he was a great, great player.
RS: Who’s the greatest basketball player of all time?
DW: That’s hard to say. It’s hard to compare different positions. One guy that doesn’t get mentioned enough is Wilt Chamberlain. No one is ever going to put up the type of numbers that Wilt did.
RS: Was Michael Jordan the best of your era?
DW: It’s tough. Was he the greatest shooting guard to ever play? Absolutely, but I look at it by position. We had so many great players. You have Magic, Malone, Kareem, Olajuwon, there’s just so many great players.
RS: As Vice President of Basketball Operations for the Hawks, what are your feelings on last season, when you guys won 60 games and made the Eastern Conference Finals?
DW: Storybook. Storybook. Couldn’t have scripted that, no one could. A wonderful year, to watch our guys play the way they did, was phenomenal.
RS: Do you believe the loss of DeMarre Carroll to the Toronto Raptors is going to affect the team this coming season?
DW: He was one of the glue guys, he brought some toughness, so yeah, of course you’re going to miss him, but we also helped ourselves. We got bigger, we picked up some good players, so we’ll see how long it takes for these to guys to build chemistry and buy into the system. I think we’re going to be in a great position this year, and I’m looking forward to it.
RS: How do you feel the addition of Tiago Splitter is going to improve the team?
DW: Huge, huge. Again, he gives us the size we need.
RS: Are you excited about the new ownership group that’s now running the Hawks?
DW: Absolutely, we have a great ownership unit now. I’m really excited about this whole new structure coming in, so I can’t tell you how thrilled I am.
RS: What was your greatest career accomplishment?
DW: I don’t look at just one thing, I look at the whole body of work. Being able to play against the greatest players to play in one era, playing on that same level, I think is the greatest accomplishment. All of the personal accolades comes with the territory when you play on a certain level, and being able to complete against the greatest players on that level, what better life?
RS: What led to your decision to go play overseas in the mid-90s?
DW: Timing and opportunity created that for me and it was a great experience.
RS: Does the Euroleague Championship mean a whole lot to you?
DW: Absolutely, it’s not east to get to that level. There’s a lot of countries and a lot of great players over there, it’s not easy to win the Euroleague Championship.
RS: Who was your favorite teammate that you ever played with?
DW: It wasn’t just one guy. Randy Wittman was my best friend on the Hawks, along with Doc Rivers and Kevin Willis. Early on, it was Danny Roundfield and Tree Rollins.
RS: What are your thoughts on Spud Webb and his ridiculous athleticism?
DW: He was a hell of an athlete for a little guy. I was very proud of where he came from and how he turned out. He did a great job.
RS: Does it bother you that some people remember you strictly for being the “Human Highlight Film” and not for your all-around ability?
DW: It does actually. I think they overlook what I did as a player, from a total standpoint. I was a complete basketball player. When people say ‘well, he was a great dunker,’ I may have averaged two dunks a game. I averaged 30 points a game one year. It’s almost laughable to me. I was a complete scorer, I scored every way possible on the floor. Inside, outside, mid-range, post-up, and I got to the line 12 times a game for my career. That’s teaching and executing on the game itself, but it is what it is.
RS: What are your thoughts on your stepson, Isaiah Wilkins, playing at the University of Virginia?
DW: He’s gonna be a good one. He’s young and still learning, but with his progression, he’s going to be a nice player.
RS: Do you think Virginia and head coach Tony Bennett are a good system?
DW: It’s a great system for him.
RS: Is there any one thing in your career that you regret, or one thing that you would change?
DW: No, I don’t have any regrets. I try to live without regrets. I’ve had a wonderful life in a league that not a lot of people get a chance in.
RS: Having most of your career, even now, centered in Atlanta, do you feel like you need to bring the city a championship before you move to things outside of basketball?
DW: That’s the ultimate goal, that’s why we compete, and hopefully, we can win one in the very near future.
RS: What are some the biggest charitable organizations that you’re involved in?
DW: Healthcare and diabetes are my biggest function that I’m doing, but I think one of the great things I’m doing right now is with Allstate, the Champions for Good Awards. The fact that we recognize these individuals who have given their lives to doing good in their communities is a major part of why we do charities.
RS: Can you go a little deeper into the Champions For Good Awards?
DW: It’s about structure for youths, and today we get a chance to present the awards. It’s about spotlighting the good stories and being excited about the positive stuff coming out of these stories. With the event today in Atlanta, the Give Back at the Books for Africa warehouse is how we are showing our support. It’s great for us in Atlanta because a lot of the books are being donated to local libraries.
It was a pleasure getting to sit down with Wilkins. He’s extremely passionate about the Hawks and his role in the community. He’s a wonderful humanitarian and an interesting person to discuss basketball with. For his sake, I hope the Hawks can win a championship while Wilkins is still a part of the organization.
Jason Fletcher is a Senior Writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @JasonFletcher25, “Like” him on Facebook, or add him to your network on Google+.
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