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Dominique Wilkins, who has the program’s lone retired jersey, “unretired” his number for Jake Wilkins. That’s a lot of pressure — for anyone. Each time Jake plays, fans and media want to know: Is he actually good? Or is he just on scholarship because of his father? Does he have a legitimate shot at the NBA? Jake hears the chatter — what he calls “outside noise” — but he ignores it. “It really goes in one ear and out the other way,” he says. “I never really let that get too much of my time, because most people don’t even know what they’re talking about. … I really don’t get into any of that.” He acknowledges, though, that since jumping to the collegiate level, the noise has increased. But he doesn’t let himself stray from who he knows himself to be. Who his dad has been. “He never forced me to play basketball,” Jake says. “It was kind of all on my own, so it was never a problem with me trying to create my own (legacy).”
Do you feel like you guys cared more about the Dunk Contest? Nate Robinson: I mean, they just make it where it's not as cool now. I don't know why, I don't know where it went wrong. But back in the day, doing the Dunk Contest, it stamped who you were and what you were trying to bring to the table. Like, come on, man, you had guys like Michael Jordan doing the Dunk Contest when he was young. Like LeBron [James], he should have done it. Guys like Ja Morant, Zion [Williamson], why are you guys not doing what you're meant to do? You know what I'm saying? It doesn't make sense. Like, come on, Ja. You supposed to do that rookie year. Zion, you supposed to do that rookie year. Come on, bro. The best of the best. Blake Griffin, myself. I mean, Tracy McGrady, Vince Carter, Michael Jordan, Jason Richardson, Desmond Mason, Steve Francis, Baron Davis, Dominique Wilkins, they all did it. They were dunkers, and they did the Dunk Contest. So many guys blessed the Dunk Contest and still became the player that they are today. It didn't hinder them. Even if they didn't win, they still did it.
What does it mean to you for you to be a presenter for Dwight’s Hall-of-Fame induction? Wilkins: “It’s an honor and a pleasure that he reached out and wanted me to be a part of presenting him in the Hall-of-Fame. That’s always an honor when a colleague or when you have a young guy that is going down the same road you went down and reach out to you in such a manner. That’s a special, special honor and special trip. I was more than happy to be there for him.”
Where do you rank Dwight as a dunker overall? Wilkins: “He’s one of the best dunkers in history. That’s pretty much automatic. He did some pretty special stuff.”
How do you compare Dwight’s defense to other greats like Hakeem Olajuwon? Wilkins: “He’s one of the best defenders in the history of this league. There is no question on how dominant he was defensively. That’s the truth. A lot of times guys didn’t want to come to the basket against Dwight (laughs). They didn’t want to come to the basket against him. It was his ability to move without the ball. He wasn’t one of those guys that had a lack of mobility. He was very mobile for a big guy. He was very mobile. It’s not just about being athletically solid. But his court awareness and ability to help defensively was huge. You have a lot of big guys where it takes them a little bit more time to get there from A to B. But with Dwight, he was quick for a big guy. He was very quick for a big guy.”
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Wilkins wasn’t surprised because he knows an athlete’s body can take only so much before being pushed to its ultimate on-court limit. “It’s just a freak accident. It’s something unexplainable,” Wilkins told The Athletic after watching Haliburton’s injury. “Usually, when a guy tears his Achilles, there’s already some nagging pain that you don’t think about beyond wear and tear. You don’t think it’s something that’s going to blow on you. I sympathize with him because the way he went down, it looked like he completely tore it.”
- Given the ever-growing AAU circuit, players are entering the league with more mileage and less rest. - On the NBA level, the league’s average pace roughly over the last decade closely resembles that of the 1970s and late ’80s more than the dormant 1990s and early 2000s, testing even the most polished world-class athletes to unique levels. - Defenders are contesting 3-pointers more often than ever (37.8 per 100 possessions last season), closing out on contested long-range shot opportunities at a higher rate than any era in league history.
Are you disappointed that LeBron James never participated in the Slam Dunk Contest? Jason Richardson: I was a little bit because if you look back at the history of the Slam Dunk Contest even when I was kid, if you were a high flyer or if you were a superstar, you DID the Dunk Contest, you know? [Michael] Jordan did it. Dr. J did it. Dominique Wilkins did it. Some of the greatest jumpers in the history of the NBA have done it and you want a guy like LeBron to carry on that tradition of superstars doing the Dunk Contest because the Dunk Contest is what carried All-Star Weekend… until now. So it’s kind of disappointing that he never did one but I can understand why he didn’t but, as a fan of the Dunk Contest watching it since you were a kid you would want a guy like LeBron in the Dunk Contest.
That was 32 years ago and technology has changed in Achilles’ rehab, but Wilkins said there is a common thread between now and then: work ethic. “That injury is a serious injury,” Wilkins told the Globe this week. “And Jayson had the same type of injury I had, meaning he had a complete tear because there is no way you could walk off the floor. That’s a devastating injury but the thing is the work he puts in is going to determine what he gets out of it. “I worked twice a day every day for nine months and came back quicker than anybody. But it was my level of commitment and Jayson is a kid that loves the game and I have a lot of respect and am a fan of his. I have no doubt that he’s going to put in the work to get back to the same level he was.”
Wilkins said he did not lose a step after the rehabilitation process. In the season after the Achilles’ tear, he played in 71 of 82 games and his offensive numbers were similar to his numbers pre-injury. Yet, the primary difference in Wilkins’s game was his improved 3-point shooting. After shooting 29 percent in the season he was injured, Wilkins boosted his percentage to 38 and he attempted more threes than in his previous two years. “I thought I would lose something but I came back a better and more all-around player,” he said. “That was because of the work I put in and I wanted to prove all the doubters wrong. I learned how to play the game more on the ground. When you have an injury like that, it forces you to go to other aspects of the game to be as effective. I put other things in my game so one guy still wasn’t going to guard me.”
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Perhaps the biggest obstacle Tatum will have to overcome is the lack of trust for his body. He was simply diving for a loose ball when he crumpled to the floor. Wilkins said the process of regaining faith in yourself is the biggest hurdle in rehabilitation. “The one doubt that’s in your mind is if I turn the wrong way or come down wrong, will this thing go on me again?” Wilkins said. “I just had to get the [fear] out of my head. That’s what you have to do. And I had my best all around season after that [in 1992-93].” Wilkins said he was in a walking boot for 10 weeks before he began his rehabilitation and spent that time working on his upper body. He returned stronger and eventually gained the confidence in his body through rehabilitation.
ESI: There are some rumors Atlanta could be a destination for Giannis. Would you want to see that happen? You’d obviously have to give up a lot to get Giannis, but pairing him with Trae (Young) could lift the team. Dominique Wilkins: “Man, that’s a blockbuster deal right there. Who wouldn’t want Giannis? I’d be lying if I said anything differently. Oh, man, it is a lot you’d have to give up to get a guy like that.” ESI: Is it worth the potential compensation? Dominique Wilkins: “If you can land a guy like that – someone who still has a lot left in the tank, since Giannis is not an old man by any stretch of the imagination – there’s not a team in the league who wouldn’t want him.”
ESI: How unique of a player is Wemby? Dominique Wilkins: “To be 7-foot-3 and to handle the basketball, shoot the 3, get to the basket, he’s a once-in-a-lifetime type of talent. But I’ll tell you who he is in today’s game: he’s Ralph Sampson. Ralph Sampson had all those same skills, but he wasn’t permitted to take 3s. Coaches weren’t allowing the big guys to take 3s back then. Ralph could shoot with range, run the floor, post up, block shots, do it all until his knees went bad. That’s who Wemby is, Ralph Sampson.”
ESI: Where do you stand in the Michael Jordan vs. LeBron debate? Dominique Wilkins: “I don’t believe in the GOAT and all that stuff. How can you say a guy is the greatest of all-time when they haven’t played against some of the guys that were the greatest of their era? Like a Wilt Chamberlain, Bill Russell. “But I will say this: Michael Jordan made six Finals and won six championships with the same team. And he won three championships after retiring to play another sport. Nothing like that has ever been done before. MJ did some things that no one will ever do. So if I’m going with the best player to ever play, that’s where my mindset sits. I’m going with Michael. That’s no disrespect to anybody, but I’m looking at what he accomplished in a short period of time.”