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Ranking the 75 best players in NBA history for 75th anniversary

By Josh Cornelissen

Kobe Bryant (Photo credit should read Vince Bucci/AFP via Getty Images)
Kobe Bryant (Photo credit should read Vince Bucci/AFP via Getty Images) /
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Dominique Wilkins, Atlanta Hawks. Photo by Focus on Sport/Getty Images /

Ranking the 75 best players in NBA history: No. 51 – Dominique Wilkins

Career: 1982 – 1999

Achievements: All-NBA (7x); All-Star (9x); led the league in scoring (1x); 16th in career scoring

Dominique Wilkins was a player who had to be seen to be believed. One of the premier athletes in a generation where athleticism was exploding leaguewide, he could leap out of the gym as he blitzed to the rim for one of his deep back of dunks. He and Michael Jordan were not only incredible in-game dunkers, but they memorably faced off in the Slam Dunk Contest as well.

Wilkins’ explosion and relentless approach on offense led to impressive individual statistics, and he even led the league in scoring in 1985-86. He averaged 24.8 points per game for his career, including 10 seasons with at least 26 points per game.

The problem for Wilkins was that he was all alone in Atlanta trying to push through an absolutely deadly Eastern Conference. Only once did he have an All-NBA teammate, when in 1989 Moses Malone got a third-team nod near the end of his career. Jordan and Pippen, Bird and McHale, the Bad Boys – without help he couldn’t break through, never making the Conference Finals. Replaying his career again with a legitimate co-star could have meant a very different narrative for “The Human Highlight Reel” and his career.