I'm 55 and my best friend from way back in grade school surprised me a few years ago with 3 signed jerseys from sports stars, one was Iceman George Gervin because on the playground I always finished my drives with a finger role, the second was a signed polo of tennis legend Ivan Lendl just because I played a lot of tennis growing up and both of those are awesome, HOWEVER, the greatest of them all was the signed Nique Jersey!!! What a great friend and what a great ICON!!! Thanks for all the great memories Nique!!!!!
My favorite player growing up, everyone loved MJ...I loved Nique!!! He went at MJ hard...loved those battles. The year the Hawks unbelievably traded him to the Clippers, I feel the Hawks had their best chance ever to go to the Finals and possibly get a title. They were playing so well. Ugh. Broke my heart. I was used to watching almost all of his games on TBS and now he was in Clipper prison!! Nique one of the best to ever touch a basketball.
I'm From & Live In Chicago I Love The Dominator The Human Highlight Film Dominique Wilkins!!! I Love This Documentary & Dominique Was A Spectacular Basketball Player. There Will Never Another Like Him. I Want To Thanks Dom For All Amazing Memories U Giving Me When U Played The NBA. Im Truly Blessed To Witness Your Greatness.
Only 25.000 views and 46 comments for A LEGEND LIKE DOMINIQUE ? I decided to watch it every day until the views go to 100.000. It's unfair, this guy is so underrated! Why?
facts and Nique deserves much more respect.. I'm a Bulls fan but at that time I loved the Hawks too (I was young and had two teams I like and tbs and channel 31 somehow I was able to get some of there games on tv in NJ I hated the Knicks and Nets) when the Hawks I felt dissed the hawks I was done with them fully.. and that Celtics series... the hawks got cheateddddd so bad
@@cniplus9549 I just saw how Isiah Thomas was so happy after Detroit beat Atlanta in a tough serirs , But no one remembers the team that lost. The bucks had a strong team in the 80s as well with some great defense players but they Lost to Bird or Dr J . Boston had like five all stars in the 80s , Then came Detroit , very tough to beat.
@@lovenlightman ahhh you talmbout the terry Cummings days.... Lebron would have recruited a player like Terry had he been around during those times . lolol but hell yeah bro those were the days... the good old NBA days
The Human Highlight Reel was one of my favorite players in the 80's. Dynamic leaper,and an intense competitor who never backed down, never gave up. His duels against Bird were the stuff of legends.
I rented NBA Dazzling dunks and Basketball bloopers on VHS when I was a kid up here in Canada. With all the great athletic plays in those highlights reels, The one guy in the red and yellow uniform seemed to stand out the most on that tape. One play happens reel quick, its Dominique going right, quickly spinning left and covering about 6 ft of ground. 2 foot landing from the spin move, and instantly into a full jump shot, all in one motion. Then the camera follows the ball through the air, ball hits back rim and starts coming down, Dominique meets the ball and is almost shoulder to the rim when he dunks it with power. Happy to see him finally get the respect that his true fans always knew he deserved, top 25 all time, and should have been on the original Dream Team with Isiah.
I'm from Brazil and had 1st contact with NBA in 88: a Brazilian sports channel started to broadcast (with those NBA clips in place of ads!!)... no cable TV, no merchandise: only the game!! I became a Lakers' fan, but in the end the boys in my 'hood enjoyed ALL the great players and teams of that time. The HAWKS and WILKINS were at the top for me. How nice to get to now more about Dominique: one of the GREATEST.
Nique wasn't fully appreciated in his time, playing in the same era as Bird, Magic and Jordan. Top 50 player of all time, maybe even Top 40, he helped redefine the game. As great a player as he was, he's an even better person and ambassador for the game and the city of Atlanta. A national treasure.
I’ve only really been watching the Hawks for a little over a year and I would get slightly annoyed with one of the announcers saying “classic heat check” all the time. Then my father-in-law sent me this and a bunch of his highlights and told me it was him… and I promptly told myself to shut up. It really changed my perspective on his commentary. What an honorable man.
I was a Rockets fan when I was kid. But I also loved watching great players. Always watched TBS when Mr. Wilkins was playing. Congrats sir. Truly one the best
I remember that season. What a stupid, stupid trade that was. Dominique was having a super year and the Hawks were UP there with the Bulls and the Knicks. Danny Manning was younger and good but he wasn't as athletic or as talented as Dominique Wilkins. Stupid trade.
Lenny Wilkens and Stan Kasten...disloyal opportunists. Taking a really good team and throwing it over the bridge because they thought it would be better?
great show....Dominique was fantastic ....one of the most exciting b ball players ever....the 60's, 70's, 80's and 90's pro basketball eras were definitely the best ever and all those eras make todays pro game look like a complete joke!!!! Great show!!!! Salute to Dominique!!!
Atlanta s Cable Network of the Hawks Flagship Channel was part of the National Cable of Ted Turner. It was Wilkins and MJordan s Channels that was included of the Cable Network which was National as the US got to watch them of every game in 80s. Ted Turner ( godfather of cable tv) who said, " CBS has Magic and Bird, so I got MJ and Wilkins , every game!"
‘Nique was easily right there with his contemporaries named above. The only difference is that he had no legit supporting cast or even an all-star/HOF caliber #2 like the players previously mentioned.
@@twilson4455 Kevin Willis and Doc Rivers were very good. Dominique was one of the all time slashers-a great scorer. However he didn’t have the all around game of a Bird, Magic or Jordan.
@@MaximusWolfe I’d have to strongly disagree. Doc Rivers and Kevin Willis were barely even perennial all-stars, let alone HOF caliber players. You can’t tell me Nique & Willis or Nique & Rivers was anywhere as potent as Jordan & Pippen, Bird & McHale (AND Parrish), Malone & Stockton, Magic & Kareem (AND Worthy)…you get my drift? Dominique’s career was very similar to that of Jordan’s prior to the Bulls’ front office getting Jordan an actual squad that could compete with the best teams in that era. He was equipped with a long tenured all-star and HOF’er in Scottie Pippen and surrounded with key role players who had pivotal roles that directly contributed to multiple championships like Rodman (HOF), Paxson, Harper, Hodges, Kerr, Kukoc, Grant…etc. How many multi-year all stars or HOF’ers did Nique have on his teams during that era? I’ll wait… (And no…over-the-hill Moses Malone doesn’t count). Who was his HOF #2, his 3-point assassin, his defensive specialist or floor general point guard? Nique had to literally carry his team all by himself and the fact that Nique was even able to have the HOF career he had during that highly competitive era, with no viable supporting cast, was nothing short of amazing.
I truly feel the Hawks would have won the title that season had Nique not been traded...maybe not, but I truly felt at the moment of that deal that the Hawks were the best team in the NBA. I hated that so much as a Hawks fan and even more as a fan of Nique. That one hurt...
Beautiful!! Thank you guys for giving him his due as he lives..you know his flowers while he draws breath! Only thing the statue could have looked a little more like his likeness just my opion. I'm a true Hawks,Braves,and BULLDOGS fan for life! Specially my beloved Dawgs! Congratulations Mr.Nique!
The thing about the truth is that it can't be questioned, and therefore able to rise above all occasions. The Human Highlight Film was one of the 50 greatest players I ever seen. This story here just proved it - triumph!
The most disrespected NBA legend to ever play the game. As if it wasn't enough of a slap to the face how Atlanta treated him, when they traded him like he was washed up trash, then they did it to him again when they elected Shaq, a then 4 year NBA player, as one of the 50 greatest players, over Dominique Wilkins, who had been packing arenas and blowing up the NBA TV ratings for more than 14 years. I was pissed about in 1997, and I'm still pissed about now. That he was inducted into the Naismith Basketball hall of fame is enough to tell them how completely WRONG they were, and still are.
They were rolling the season he was traded. They'd matched up good with everyone & had a shot to win it all. I remember that trade. It was on a Thursday I think. Lenny Wilkins clearly didn't like Nique's game. He preferred more of a team game. It felt like he was lessening Nique's role. Just a lousy way to go out.
I was a Lakers fan, but they sucked in 94, so even tho I got thru 81 LAL gms (they didn't even broadcast the final gm on their own home channel, that was an indication of suckage), but I watched the Hawks gms on Turner chans. Entertaining team. I remem the gm Sprewell won at the buzzer at Omni and vs Orl, etc. Knowing the Clippers, it wasn't lost on me how dirty that trade was, and Manning said he was goin to Phx IN season. Made zero sense. Got one of Nique's last two 40 pt gms as a Clipper against the Lakes. Recap is on my chan. W/ Bos that next year, Nique hit that wall. I saw it happen to Worthy circa 93, they were even kinda connected in that respect, too.
@@nonplayerzealot4 We had the best record in the East that year and while we had Nique we had the most well rounded team that year. It's not a certainty that we would've made the finals but I really liked our chances until we traded wilkins.
@@paulthompkins4150 I just lost a long effin reply, ugggggh. I'll try to reconstitute it. The only thing worse than sending him to the NJ Nets of the West was how it destroyed the happy, unselfish, fun vibes of Hotlanta. They were having one of those magical seasons where everyone is having fun and playing scrappier and fully unselfish. That has been a thing even LA hasn't had every time they won it all since 2000. The 09/10/20 seasons were feelgood and 00 was sorta and 01 was that way from March on cus Kobe and Shaq buried the hatchet and they stomped everyone from March to June. Wjen a very good team has that factor, look out. The Hox def had it. Effin shame the FO didn't know better than to trade the leader and expect shit to cont w/o a glitch. The diff was fully apparent in the MIA series, Ferrell and Long brawl.. It seemed that ATL went from happy to dark just like that. The FO now calls it a tragic mistake. --------I would've loved to see Nique and Pippen go at it. Sans Mike, the East was wide open. I thing ATL would've beaten almost all East teams absent critical mistakes in close games that kill you. NY was the bitch of the bunch. Hard winning at MSG and they were full of brutes w/ little finesse. I could see them making the series a slow, ugly tarpit as happened w/ HOU. Seven gms w/ zero 100 pt scores. Mase took Horry out the air in a nasty fall. They'd pull that on Nique. I consider the 94 Hox as a finesse team who employed halfcourt traps and pushed the ball as much as they could, sorta like the Sonics then. Unfort, those things are easy for good/dirty defense-oriented teams like NY to take away. I'd like to know your hottake on ATL/NY series. Am I all wrong or what? --------As for the trade, I get why they did it because Jerry West tried doing the same w/ aging Worthy who was completely busted by 93/94. West offered him in package deals for unhappy Chuck and Hakeem in 92. Phila pulled a Manchin and reneged on a verbal agreement and negotiation papers ready to fax to NBA HQs at the last minute. It probably hit them that giving him to the universally hated Lakers would get them some furious backlash. Woulda been like Pau for Kwame's expiring Koncak-contract. Chuck said his agent even told him you've been traded to the Lakers. Funny how much Nique and Worthy's entire hoops lives intersected or mirrored each other from HS to pro retirement, Logo was tryin to pull a fast one because James had a backloaded contract that paid him millions for 2-3 yrs even after retirement and Magic had the ssme for double Worthy's salary. Both were on their salary cap until 95/96, which is how Logo dumped much of the capspace to go for Shaq or Mutombo in 96. Logo was the Auerbachian hustler in his prime. Waited yrs to strike at Shaq and the poor ORL FO made rookie mistakes in that thing. Anyway, goin on tangents Enjoy my rantings and Happy Holidays to you n yours.
This man back in 1995-96 helped Panathinaikos win it's 1st Euroleague title and a Greek cup. He was also Euroleague's Final Four MVP. He is still the best NBAer to ever came to Europe.
Dominique is the perfect basketball name and he has the perfect basketball physique. His dunks we dominating and his jumper was also. What a player. I miss you Dominique.
The Hawks never did get past the 2nd round during the Dominique era. So trading him did not make the Hawks better. They did not get past the 2nd round until 2015
I liked the way Dominique dunked the best. He would explode on the basket and he did it consistently. I miss you bro.I love basketball and you played it like no other. Dominique Wilkins salute.
The Wicked NBA mob owners knew (IMO) Dominique would lead the Hawks past the Bulls and the money they were making off of Jordan being at the top would be messed up!
Sad how an wrong decision by managers can ruin such a story Dominique could have had if he stayed in Howks. They ruined not just his path, but Howks history that could of been made
His story is interesting and intriguing. Dominique Wilkins and Bernard King and Doctor J. Underrated and unappreciated. Some basketball fans focuses too much on Michael Jordan, LeBron James, Kobe Byrant but seems to forget those three especially Dominique Wilkins and Bernard King.
Wilkins was one of the greats. He has said many good things about Larry Bird. There are stories about Bird talking to Wilkins on the court showing Bird had great respect for him. Bird is the kind of guy who only gives respect to people who deserve it. That really shows how great Wilkins was…. He should have gone into the hall of fame sooner…..
What a shame to be so loyal and feel like you have been tossed out like trash in a trade. Bummer! The Hawk lose the next game to the Clippers after the trade.☺. Players gave to weigh their loyalty to franchises due to this type of treatment. It's a mind bender. 😌 I'll never forget going to Atlanta for a week in the 80's. His prideful free walks around the city and parks as a "regular Joe" is terrific. I cannot believe how many times I saw him in a week. I asked him if he was following me.☺ It is nice to see a gentleman like him have a great HOF career. From CT, long time no see!
YES,Wilkins was robbed of slam dunk champ against Jordan in Chi-town,BUT as they say when I was in the army $$it happens!!! LOL.Nique took it like a champ tho.Wilkin was a GREAT player,used to watch all the Hawk's games back n the day.That series against Boston was GREATNESS,BUT they woke Larry Bird up for the fourth quarter and it was a RAP!!! LOL.Glad Wilkins is getting his due,it's well deserved.AND his wife is GORGEOUS!!! LOL.
One of the greatest no doubt. The difference between Nique being put on the same level as the guys with rings like Jordan Bird Magic Doc Kobe etc is him playing with HOFers. He played with some very good players but he never got to run with a future HOFer by his side let alone 2 or 3 like some of those guys did
I remember the first time I heard about the NBA..I was in the 4th grade ..I can't remember who said it But the Kept Saying Dominique was just a Dunker..Madness#88
What a stupid move to trade the greatest player the team ever had while they were in 1st place. The Hawks will probably never win a championship as karma for this
Great great player...enjoyed seeing him play dozens of times at the Omni, the rivalries of the Hawks vs the Celtics and vs the Pistons are vastly underrated and the Hawks were deeper than just Nique, nevertheless both those other teams proved to be more oriented to deliver in clutch situations than the Hawks. Not much difference between the Nique-led Hawks and those teams but just enough difference there to separate goodness vs greatness. ...and Stan Kasten and Lenny Wilkins should be ashamed of orchestrating that trade. Hindsight is 20-20 but good lord that was so shortsighted it's hard to describe the damage it did to the franchise.
That damn trade! Danny Manning for Nique? The Hawks were primed to when the NBA championship with Nique that year. I've hated the Hawks ever since. The only other trade that effected me like this one was when the SF Giants traded Willie Mays for Charlie Freakin' Williams....
30:16 Look at his guilty eyes. And the tragic Irony is that he was voted among the best 50 NBA players EVER!! Ha ha ha ha ha ha. And super star Dominique Wilkins is out!!
37:23 - I was about to say that's a tall wife, but then realised Nique was sitting lol. still mad at that Hawks-Clippers trade, Hawks were doing so well too.
One the worst trade i ever witnessed when the dumb Hawks traded nique for danny manning they were rolling and thought Stacey Augman was a replacement for nigue the had an outside shot the Bulls were better but but i was looking forward to that match up
I'm not even a Dominique guy. I'm a Chicagoan and Jordan guy. I'm a Ewing guy before Olajuwon or Nique. Even though I know Olajuwon is the #2 guy of the Jordan era post Magic and Bird era. Wilkins is with Worthy, Isiah Thomas, and some others that are Bird and Magic era and Jordan era partly. Those bunches drafted between 1979-80 to 82-83 and 83-84 pre Air Jordan and that magical 84 draft that matured fully by 86-87, 87-88 and ushered in the 90s NBA on NBC era and carried the league for that generation of children. You can always lump the two eras together. And make it the Magic, Bird, Jordan era. Knowing Hakeem and Isiah are the four and five of that era from 80-98. But Kareem and Moses and Erving obviously have high rank from 80-89 alone during this frame though obviously lose some juice without their 70's exploits really included here. Just like in the 90s you know Wilkins, Worthy and Isiah lose some juice 🧃🥤 cuz it doesn't include their 80s exploits. But Dominique deserved a shot at the 1994 NBA Playoffs with the Atlanta Hawks. And people make the mistake and say that 88 Celtics ☘️ vs Hawks 🦅 series was his ONE shot 🥃. No. That 1993-94 season was priming itself for his glory. He'd have went vs Glen Rice and Steve Smith round 1, Reggie Miller and Derrick McKey round 2, Patrick Ewing round 3 and potentially Hakeem round 4. And The 94 Hawks were the first loss of the season for The 94 Rockets @15-0. So Dominique had a championship team. Especially for 1994. Blaylock, Augmon at long and athletic and strong guards. Nique and Willis on boards and paint 🎨 points with Nique a legitimate playoff performer, an electric energy performer, a big time clutch guy, an unafraid competitor, a hall of famer, a 50 greatest a 75 in 75 greatest. A legend a true legend in Dominique would have given that 94 Hawks sqaud a chance to win the NBA title that Jordanless season. That was his best shot. No Bird, no Isiah, no Jordan in the way. Only the best of the rest. A Hakeem, Ewing, Karl Malone, Barkley, Pippen, Wilkins league pre Shaq and his true arrival, pre Reggie Miller time in the East if Nique was there to shootout with him in the ECSF. Wilkins was robbed. Blocked by some mischievous and questionable leadership. Some suspicious timing by Atlanta to dump their greatest player ever. Their one modern superstar post Bob Pettit who no one knows cuz 6% of America had CBS pre 1975 or whatever. I know I'm roughly exaggerating but you get it. Most people outside the East and even in the Midwest East and Southeast didn't necessarily need to watch NBA basketball pre 1980. And most didn't have TV regularly. It was a luxury not a standard for many. And then other sports were more spectacle and glamour than basketball like baseball ⚾, boxing 🥊, in those mid 1900's days. Nique is the Hawks' guy of the colored tv era, MTV era, pros in the Olympics era. And they traded him for a chap like Danny Manning. Who the hell is Danny Manning? A guy who makes faxes for that white dude from the OFFICE tv show ?
Wilkins should have won the dunk contest between him and Jordan. Michael only won because the dunk contest was held the city of Chicago. Even then you see Jordan's huge egotistical pride , like he didn't want to acknowledge Wilkins's skills is just as good as his. A t least he acknowledge and appreciate Doctor J as a phenomenal great basketball player unlike the other guy in Chicago.
I'm 55 and my best friend from way back in grade school surprised me a few years ago with 3 signed jerseys from sports stars, one was Iceman George Gervin because on the playground I always finished my drives with a finger role, the second was a signed polo of tennis legend Ivan Lendl just because I played a lot of tennis growing up and both of those are awesome, HOWEVER, the greatest of them all was the signed Nique Jersey!!! What a great friend and what a great ICON!!! Thanks for all the great memories Nique!!!!!
One of the most underrated superstars ever!
And one of the nicests and cool personalities I must add, together with David Robinson.
@E Double Or even better in 25 greatest.
@E DoubleLenny Wilkens as a coach was the one who traded Dominique from Atlanta to L.A Clippers. Wilkins felt very offended that time.
100% agree
Z
Most underrated player of all-time!
My favorite player of all-time!
Im in tears.
Im from chicago and nique was my fav
My favorite player growing up, everyone loved MJ...I loved Nique!!! He went at MJ hard...loved those battles. The year the Hawks unbelievably traded him to the Clippers, I feel the Hawks had their best chance ever to go to the Finals and possibly get a title. They were playing so well. Ugh. Broke my heart. I was used to watching almost all of his games on TBS and now he was in Clipper prison!! Nique one of the best to ever touch a basketball.
I'm From & Live In Chicago
I Love The Dominator The Human Highlight Film Dominique Wilkins!!!
I Love This Documentary & Dominique Was A Spectacular Basketball Player.
There Will Never Another Like Him.
I Want To Thanks Dom For All Amazing Memories U Giving Me When U Played The NBA. Im Truly Blessed To Witness Your Greatness.
Only 25.000 views and 46 comments for A LEGEND LIKE DOMINIQUE ? I decided to watch it every day until the views go to 100.000. It's unfair, this guy is so underrated! Why?
No one deserves this honour more than Wilkins. As Danny Ainge said it DOMINIQUE IS ONE OF THE 25 BEST PLAYERS OF ALL TIME.
TOP 15 EASY!!!
This was one of the best docs of Nique. Really frames how real he was as a person. On the court and off. A true legend of the NBA and the franchise.
facts and Nique deserves much more respect.. I'm a Bulls fan but at that time I loved the Hawks too (I was young and had two teams I like and tbs and channel 31 somehow I was able to get some of there games on tv in NJ I hated the Knicks and Nets) when the Hawks I felt dissed the hawks I was done with them fully.. and that Celtics series... the hawks got cheateddddd so bad
Great underrated player
@@thetruth72667 factz
@@cniplus9549 I just saw how Isiah Thomas was so happy after Detroit beat Atlanta in a tough serirs , But no one remembers the team that lost. The bucks had a strong team in the 80s as well with some great defense players but they Lost to Bird or Dr J . Boston had like five all stars in the 80s , Then came Detroit , very tough to beat.
@@lovenlightman ahhh you talmbout the terry Cummings days.... Lebron would have recruited a player like Terry had he been around during those times . lolol but hell yeah bro those were the days... the good old NBA days
The Human Highlight Reel was one of my favorite players in the 80's. Dynamic leaper,and an intense competitor who never backed down, never gave up. His duels against Bird were the stuff of legends.
I rented NBA Dazzling dunks and Basketball bloopers on VHS when I was a kid up here in Canada. With all the great athletic plays in those highlights reels, The one guy in the red and yellow uniform seemed to stand out the most on that tape.
One play happens reel quick, its Dominique going right, quickly spinning left and covering about 6 ft of ground. 2 foot landing from the spin move, and instantly into a full jump shot, all in one motion. Then the camera follows the ball through the air, ball hits back rim and starts coming down, Dominique meets the ball and is almost shoulder to the rim when he dunks it with power. Happy to see him finally get the respect that his true fans always knew he deserved, top 25 all time, and should have been on the original Dream Team with Isiah.
That was a good video tape
Class Act! One Of My All-Time Favorite & Most Respected Childhood Players & Heroes. Dominique Wilkins, The Human Highlight Film Icon!
I'm from Brazil and had 1st contact with NBA in 88: a Brazilian sports channel started to broadcast (with those NBA clips in place of ads!!)... no cable TV, no merchandise: only the game!! I became a Lakers' fan, but in the end the boys in my 'hood enjoyed ALL the great players and teams of that time. The HAWKS and WILKINS were at the top for me. How nice to get to now more about Dominique: one of the GREATEST.
Fantastic player. Always enjoyed watching him play.
Nique wasn't fully appreciated in his time, playing in the same era as Bird, Magic and Jordan. Top 50 player of all time, maybe even Top 40, he helped redefine the game. As great a player as he was, he's an even better person and ambassador for the game and the city of Atlanta. A national treasure.
I’ve only really been watching the Hawks for a little over a year and I would get slightly annoyed with one of the announcers saying “classic heat check” all the time. Then my father-in-law sent me this and a bunch of his highlights and told me it was him… and I promptly told myself to shut up. It really changed my perspective on his commentary. What an honorable man.
I was a Rockets fan when I was kid. But I also loved watching great players. Always watched TBS when Mr. Wilkins was playing. Congrats sir. Truly one the best
I remember that season. What a stupid, stupid trade that was. Dominique was having a super year and the Hawks were UP there with the Bulls and the Knicks. Danny Manning was younger and good but he wasn't as athletic or as talented as Dominique Wilkins. Stupid trade.
I never understood this trade
Lenny Wilkens and Stan Kasten...disloyal opportunists. Taking a really good team and throwing it over the bridge because they thought it would be better?
Dum trade that's why manning left to the suns.
great show....Dominique was fantastic ....one of the most exciting b ball players ever....the 60's, 70's, 80's and 90's pro basketball eras were definitely the best ever and all those eras make todays pro game look like a complete joke!!!! Great show!!!! Salute to Dominique!!!
Atlanta s Cable Network of the Hawks Flagship Channel was part of the National Cable of Ted Turner. It was Wilkins and MJordan s Channels that was included of the Cable Network which was National as the US got to watch them of every game in 80s. Ted Turner ( godfather of cable tv) who said, " CBS has Magic and Bird, so I got MJ and Wilkins , every game!"
Atlanta never built around nique should've had a dynasty in my humble opinion he was right there with mj
MJ? How about Bird, Magic and Barkley? No way he was an all around better player than Bird. Few were/are.
No in tf he wasn't lol
‘Nique was easily right there with his contemporaries named above. The only difference is that he had no legit supporting cast or even an all-star/HOF caliber #2 like the players previously mentioned.
@@twilson4455
Kevin Willis and Doc Rivers were very good. Dominique was one of the all time slashers-a great scorer. However he didn’t have the all around game of a Bird, Magic or Jordan.
@@MaximusWolfe I’d have to strongly disagree. Doc Rivers and Kevin Willis were barely even perennial all-stars, let alone HOF caliber players.
You can’t tell me Nique & Willis or Nique & Rivers was anywhere as potent as Jordan & Pippen, Bird & McHale (AND Parrish), Malone & Stockton, Magic & Kareem (AND Worthy)…you get my drift?
Dominique’s career was very similar to that of Jordan’s prior to the Bulls’ front office getting Jordan an actual squad that could compete with the best teams in that era. He was equipped with a long tenured all-star and HOF’er in Scottie Pippen and surrounded with key role players who had pivotal roles that directly contributed to multiple championships like Rodman (HOF), Paxson, Harper, Hodges, Kerr, Kukoc, Grant…etc.
How many multi-year all stars or HOF’ers did Nique have on his teams during that era? I’ll wait… (And no…over-the-hill Moses Malone doesn’t count). Who was his HOF #2, his 3-point assassin, his defensive specialist or floor general point guard?
Nique had to literally carry his team all by himself and the fact that Nique was even able to have the HOF career he had during that highly competitive era, with no viable supporting cast, was nothing short of amazing.
Loved him growing up in California...fan of his forever..loved this...thank you...
The greatest hawk of all time. That statue. Teared me up.
One of the best never to win a title, along with Barkley and Stockton.
Don't forget the mailman Karl Malone and the answer Allen Iverson
Greatest of all time
No
He was a great drive scorer though.
He is very eloquent, thoughtful, loyal. I like him.
Great!
Thanks for the upload!
One of the greatest of all time!!! One of the nicest people you’ll ever meet.
Truly one of the greatest players of all time....
Dominique Wilkinssssssssssssssssssssss
Nique & the Entire Wilkins family are class personified! Bless him forever 21
They were going to beat the Bulls(imo) and that just was not going to be allowed by the NBA mob leaders!
great guy, and he brought alot of respect to the hawks. proud to have seen him live in his prime.
I loved watching Nique’ as a young man. What a great person. So humble.
I truly feel the Hawks would have won the title that season had Nique not been traded...maybe not, but I truly felt at the moment of that deal that the Hawks were the best team in the NBA. I hated that so much as a Hawks fan and even more as a fan of Nique. That one hurt...
Beautiful!! Thank you guys for giving him his due as he lives..you know his flowers while he draws breath! Only thing the statue could have looked a little more like his likeness just my opion. I'm a true Hawks,Braves,and BULLDOGS fan for life! Specially my beloved Dawgs! Congratulations Mr.Nique!
The thing about the truth is that it can't be questioned, and therefore able to rise above all occasions. The Human Highlight Film was one of the 50 greatest players I ever seen. This story here just proved it - triumph!
The most disrespected NBA legend to ever play the game. As if it wasn't enough of a slap to the face how Atlanta treated him, when they traded him like he was washed up trash, then they did it to him again when they elected Shaq, a then 4 year NBA player, as one of the 50 greatest players, over Dominique Wilkins, who had been packing arenas and blowing up the NBA TV ratings for more than 14 years. I was pissed about in 1997, and I'm still pissed about now. That he was inducted into the Naismith Basketball hall of fame is enough to tell them how completely WRONG they were, and still are.
They were rolling the season he was traded. They'd matched up good with everyone & had a shot to win it all. I remember that trade. It was on a Thursday I think. Lenny Wilkins clearly didn't like Nique's game. He preferred more of a team game. It felt like he was lessening Nique's role. Just a lousy way to go out.
I hate Lenny Wilkins
I can still remember how much my heart was broken when we traded him. Thar was our vest chance at making it to the finals.
I was a Lakers fan, but they sucked in 94, so even tho I got thru 81 LAL gms (they didn't even broadcast the final gm on their own home channel, that was an indication of suckage), but I watched the Hawks gms on Turner chans. Entertaining team. I remem the gm Sprewell won at the buzzer at Omni and vs Orl, etc. Knowing the Clippers, it wasn't lost on me how dirty that trade was, and Manning said he was goin to Phx IN season. Made zero sense. Got one of Nique's last two 40 pt gms as a Clipper against the Lakes. Recap is on my chan. W/ Bos that next year, Nique hit that wall. I saw it happen to Worthy circa 93, they were even kinda connected in that respect, too.
I remember sitting in my 5th grade class when i found he got traded. It was a sad day. But making the nba finals......ehhhh
@@cdgates1 I don't think ATL would've withstood NY, but a MJless Bulls series woulda been a Georgia peach.
@@nonplayerzealot4 We had the best record in the East that year and while we had Nique we had the most well rounded team that year. It's not a certainty that we would've made the finals but I really liked our chances until we traded wilkins.
@@paulthompkins4150 I just lost a long effin reply, ugggggh. I'll try to reconstitute it. The only thing worse than sending him to the NJ Nets of the West was how it destroyed the happy, unselfish, fun vibes of Hotlanta. They were having one of those magical seasons where everyone is having fun and playing scrappier and fully unselfish. That has been a thing even LA hasn't had every time they won it all since 2000. The 09/10/20 seasons were feelgood and 00 was sorta and 01 was that way from March on cus Kobe and Shaq buried the hatchet and they stomped everyone from March to June. Wjen a very good team has that factor, look out. The Hox def had it. Effin shame the FO didn't know better than to trade the leader and expect shit to cont w/o a glitch. The diff was fully apparent in the MIA series, Ferrell and Long brawl.. It seemed that ATL went from happy to dark just like that. The FO now calls it a tragic mistake.
--------I would've loved to see Nique and Pippen go at it. Sans Mike, the East was wide open. I thing ATL would've beaten almost all East teams absent critical mistakes in close games that kill you. NY was the bitch of the bunch. Hard winning at MSG and they were full of brutes w/ little finesse. I could see them making the series a slow, ugly tarpit as happened w/ HOU. Seven gms w/ zero 100 pt scores. Mase took Horry out the air in a nasty fall. They'd pull that on Nique. I consider the 94 Hox as a finesse team who employed halfcourt traps and pushed the ball as much as they could, sorta like the Sonics then. Unfort, those things are easy for good/dirty defense-oriented teams like NY to take away. I'd like to know your hottake on ATL/NY series. Am I all wrong or what?
--------As for the trade, I get why they did it because Jerry West tried doing the same w/ aging Worthy who was completely busted by 93/94. West offered him in package deals for unhappy Chuck and Hakeem in 92. Phila pulled a Manchin and reneged on a verbal agreement and negotiation papers ready to fax to NBA HQs at the last minute. It probably hit them that giving him to the universally hated Lakers would get them some furious backlash. Woulda been like Pau for Kwame's expiring Koncak-contract. Chuck said his agent even told him you've been traded to the Lakers. Funny how much Nique and Worthy's entire hoops lives intersected or mirrored each other from HS to pro retirement, Logo was tryin to pull a fast one because James had a backloaded contract that paid him millions for 2-3 yrs even after retirement and Magic had the ssme for double Worthy's salary. Both were on their salary cap until 95/96, which is how Logo dumped much of the capspace to go for Shaq or Mutombo in 96. Logo was the Auerbachian hustler in his prime. Waited yrs to strike at Shaq and the poor ORL FO made rookie mistakes in that thing. Anyway, goin on tangents Enjoy my rantings and Happy Holidays to you n yours.
I've always loved this brother's game, Dominique is a class act and an Icon for Atlanta!
This man back in 1995-96 helped Panathinaikos win it's 1st Euroleague title and a Greek cup. He was also Euroleague's Final Four MVP. He is still the best NBAer to ever came to Europe.
I'm surprised Parish didn't EXPLODE into a million pieces after this @ 16:39
Dominique is the perfect basketball name and he has the perfect basketball physique. His dunks we dominating and his jumper was also. What a player. I miss you Dominique.
A truly gifted and down to earth person.....he deserve more than a statue but the highest honor for a guy who truly cares for his community.
Gerald Wilkins is one of the most underrated defenders in NBA history.
The so called Jordan stopper......ha ha
one of the nicest person on or off the court. A real superstar.
Winning dunk contests 5 years apart is pretty amazing.
Jacques Dominique Wilkins played at Washington high school in Washington NC with 6'8 Alvis Rogers (Wake Forest 1978 - 1983)
This is The Guy who inspired me to play basketball. Respect 🏀💯
Omg, it's the human highlight film ! We love you Niq !
The Hawks never did get past the 2nd round during the Dominique era. So trading him did not make the Hawks better. They did not get past the 2nd round until 2015
38:57 Man I really cried. Dominique you are the best
My 🐐💯..when every body was on Jordan nuts..
I liked the way Dominique dunked the best. He would explode on the basket and he did it consistently. I miss you bro.I love basketball and you played it like no other. Dominique Wilkins salute.
HAWKS did Nique dirty!
The Wicked NBA mob owners knew (IMO) Dominique would lead the Hawks past the Bulls and the money they were making off of Jordan being at the top would be messed up!
@@lefonzopollock4345 Oh my.... Are you sure man? What kind of games are these? Anyway Dominique is a Legend and my favourite NBA player
Sad how an wrong decision by managers can ruin such a story Dominique could have had if he stayed in Howks. They ruined not just his path, but Howks history that could of been made
His story is interesting and intriguing. Dominique Wilkins and Bernard King and Doctor J. Underrated and unappreciated. Some basketball fans focuses too much on Michael Jordan, LeBron James, Kobe Byrant but seems to forget those three especially Dominique Wilkins and Bernard King.
legend!!!!!!!!
Wilkins was one of the greats. He has said many good things about Larry Bird. There are stories about Bird talking to Wilkins on the court showing Bird had great respect for him. Bird is the kind of guy who only gives respect to people who deserve it. That really shows how great Wilkins was…. He should have gone into the hall of fame sooner…..
What a shame to be so loyal and feel like you have been tossed out like trash in a trade. Bummer!
The Hawk lose the next game to the Clippers after the trade.☺. Players gave to weigh their loyalty to franchises due to this type of treatment. It's a mind bender. 😌
I'll never forget going to Atlanta for a week in the 80's. His prideful free walks around the city and parks as a "regular Joe" is terrific. I cannot believe how many times I saw him in a week. I asked him if he was following me.☺
It is nice to see a gentleman like him have a great HOF career. From CT, long time no see!
Kinda like Tom Brady and the Pats
@@tillman40
Yes, kinda.
Yet, Brady has the satisfaction of rubbing the Pat's nose in it by winning a Super Bowl. 👌
New subbie here. Great vid! 💯 Thanks for posting. 🤗
The human highlights film!👍
Class act! Great video too
I remember the moment of the trade, my heart broke too… wasn‘t even topped by the Shawn Kemp trade
Nice correct 60 pfs video. Awesome!
@21:56 who was drinking beer at half-time? I need to know, lol.
What a stupid move by the Hawks to trade Nique. He could have given them another 2 or 3 fine seasons with playoff games.
LEGEND
One of the greatest era in basketball .
Dominique Wilkins was a Amazing player
only fool underrated the human highlight film
Damn, this is an amazing Documentary
YES,Wilkins was robbed of slam dunk champ against Jordan in Chi-town,BUT as they say when I was in the army $$it happens!!! LOL.Nique took it like a champ tho.Wilkin was a GREAT player,used to watch all the Hawk's games back n the day.That series against Boston was GREATNESS,BUT they woke Larry Bird up for the fourth quarter and it was a RAP!!! LOL.Glad Wilkins is getting his due,it's well deserved.AND his wife is GORGEOUS!!! LOL.
One of the greatest no doubt. The difference between Nique being put on the same level as the guys with rings like Jordan Bird Magic Doc Kobe etc is him playing with HOFers. He played with some very good players but he never got to run with a future HOFer by his side let alone 2 or 3 like some of those guys did
1 of the GOATS.
Sorry Nique won that contest in 1988!
He just did not have enough good players with him to beat Boston or Detroit in the 80s
Nique will ALWAYS be one of the top 12 players in NBA history. We love ya Dom'.
Nique would destroy LeBron .
I had the pleasure of meeting him in 2003 in Atlanta
Nique was a BEAST!! Nobody made dunking look so good.
I remember the first time I heard about the NBA..I was in the 4th grade ..I can't remember who said it But the Kept Saying Dominique was just a Dunker..Madness#88
What a stupid move to trade the greatest player the team ever had while they were in 1st place. The Hawks will probably never win a championship as karma for this
Great great player...enjoyed seeing him play dozens of times at the Omni, the rivalries of the Hawks vs the Celtics and vs the Pistons are vastly underrated and the Hawks were deeper than just Nique, nevertheless both those other teams proved to be more oriented to deliver in clutch situations than the Hawks. Not much difference between the Nique-led Hawks and those teams but just enough difference there to separate goodness vs greatness.
...and Stan Kasten and Lenny Wilkins should be ashamed of orchestrating that trade. Hindsight is 20-20 but good lord that was so shortsighted it's hard to describe the damage it did to the franchise.
That damn trade! Danny Manning for Nique? The Hawks were primed to when the NBA championship with Nique that year. I've hated the Hawks ever since. The only other trade that effected me like this one was when the SF Giants traded Willie Mays for Charlie Freakin' Williams....
That statue signifies Dominique perfectly because Dominique attacked the basket with force and that statue showed that anticipation.
If Wilkins stayed in atlanta
He would play with Ice cold Trae Young
And the hawks would be Unstoppable like Chef Curry & KD!
#3peat
30:16 Look at his guilty eyes. And the tragic Irony is that he was voted among the best 50 NBA players EVER!! Ha ha ha ha ha ha. And super star Dominique Wilkins is out!!
39:02 wilking is like..that doesnt even look like me, its like im grabbing a rebound or something lol
Legendary
My 2nd favorite player to watch after scottie pippen!!!
37:23 - I was about to say that's a tall wife, but then realised Nique was sitting lol.
still mad at that Hawks-Clippers trade, Hawks were doing so well too.
One the worst trade i ever witnessed when the dumb Hawks traded nique for danny manning they were rolling and thought Stacey Augman was a replacement for nigue the had an outside shot the Bulls were better but but i was looking forward to that match up
I'm not even a Dominique guy. I'm a Chicagoan and Jordan guy. I'm a Ewing guy before Olajuwon or Nique. Even though I know Olajuwon is the #2 guy of the Jordan era post Magic and Bird era. Wilkins is with Worthy, Isiah Thomas, and some others that are Bird and Magic era and Jordan era partly. Those bunches drafted between 1979-80 to 82-83 and 83-84 pre Air Jordan and that magical 84 draft that matured fully by 86-87, 87-88 and ushered in the 90s NBA on NBC era and carried the league for that generation of children. You can always lump the two eras together. And make it the Magic, Bird, Jordan era. Knowing Hakeem and Isiah are the four and five of that era from 80-98. But Kareem and Moses and Erving obviously have high rank from 80-89 alone during this frame though obviously lose some juice without their 70's exploits really included here. Just like in the 90s you know Wilkins, Worthy and Isiah lose some juice 🧃🥤 cuz it doesn't include their 80s exploits.
But Dominique deserved a shot at the 1994 NBA Playoffs with the Atlanta Hawks. And people make the mistake and say that 88 Celtics ☘️ vs Hawks 🦅 series was his ONE shot 🥃. No. That 1993-94 season was priming itself for his glory. He'd have went vs Glen Rice and Steve Smith round 1, Reggie Miller and Derrick McKey round 2, Patrick Ewing round 3 and potentially Hakeem round 4. And The 94 Hawks were the first loss of the season for The 94 Rockets @15-0. So Dominique had a championship team. Especially for 1994. Blaylock, Augmon at long and athletic and strong guards. Nique and Willis on boards and paint 🎨 points with Nique a legitimate playoff performer, an electric energy performer, a big time clutch guy, an unafraid competitor, a hall of famer, a 50 greatest a 75 in 75 greatest. A legend a true legend in Dominique would have given that 94 Hawks sqaud a chance to win the NBA title that Jordanless season. That was his best shot. No Bird, no Isiah, no Jordan in the way. Only the best of the rest. A Hakeem, Ewing, Karl Malone, Barkley, Pippen, Wilkins league pre Shaq and his true arrival, pre Reggie Miller time in the East if Nique was there to shootout with him in the ECSF. Wilkins was robbed. Blocked by some mischievous and questionable leadership. Some suspicious timing by Atlanta to dump their greatest player ever. Their one modern superstar post Bob Pettit who no one knows cuz 6% of America had CBS pre 1975 or whatever. I know I'm roughly exaggerating but you get it. Most people outside the East and even in the Midwest East and Southeast didn't necessarily need to watch NBA basketball pre 1980. And most didn't have TV regularly. It was a luxury not a standard for many. And then other sports were more spectacle and glamour than basketball like baseball ⚾, boxing 🥊, in those mid 1900's days.
Nique is the Hawks' guy of the colored tv era, MTV era, pros in the Olympics era.
And they traded him for a chap like Danny Manning.
Who the hell is Danny Manning?
A guy who makes faxes for that white dude from the OFFICE tv show ?
kinda amazes me how family members sit on the coattails of these stars
How the hell he scottie simpn above this guy is crazy he used to shit onpippen!
Wilkins should have won the dunk contest between him and Jordan. Michael only won because the dunk contest was held the city of Chicago. Even then you see Jordan's huge egotistical pride , like he didn't want to acknowledge Wilkins's skills is just as good as his. A t least he acknowledge and appreciate Doctor J as a phenomenal great basketball player unlike the other guy in Chicago.
We never going to have caliber players like this anymore .
30:50 Dominique Wilkins we love you!!
You made it kid