Dominique Wilkins: The Mindset That Made the Human Highlight Film

SPEAKER_1 (0:00)

Born in France, raised in Baltimore, left home at 16 with a Greyhound ticket and no plan, got discovered on a playground the next day, went on to become the human highlight film, one of the most feared scorers in NBA history. A Hall of Famer who put 47 points on Larry Bird in Game 6

The world saw the dunks.

Sean Callagy (0:23)

It's so crazy to me that you were not a first ballot Hall of Famer. I'm not asking a comment for that, it's crazy.

Dominique Wilkins (0:29)

I'm going to comment on it for you. Okay, crazy, I think it was ludicrous.

Sean Callagy (0:33)

Like this is the golden era of the NBA, period.

Dominique Wilkins (0:36)

You will get no arguments out of me. My first eight games I played against probably nine Hall of Famers. My position, I remember saying to myself, man, if it's going to be like this every night, I don't know if I'm going to make it. But I had to quickly say, but I'm going to let them know they're playing against a God, too.

Sean Callagy (0:52)

How come you weren't bitter, you weren't angry?

Dominique Wilkins (0:56)

Don't make excuses. Don't blame people, because the end of the day, it's up to you what you do.

SPEAKER_1 (1:01)

This is the story behind the legend, Dominique Wilkins.

Sean Callagy (1:12)

So we have an extraordinary masterful guest today, Mr. Dominique Wilkins, NBA, Hall of Famer, a master, vice president of basketball operations, currently Atlanta Hawks, analyst, Mr. Wilkins. Welcome to Sean Callagy.

SPEAKER_1 (1:26)

Nice to see you.

Dominique Wilkins (1:27)

Nice to meet you. Nice to meet you.

Sean Callagy (1:29)

So we were chatting for a moment ago, and you started out as playing baseball.

Dominique Wilkins (1:35)

Yeah. Growing up in Baltimore, Maryland, where I grew up at, had a lot of asphalt, not a lot of grass, but the one field we had with the baseball field, across the street from my house, so all the younger kids started out in baseball.

And I went from baseball, actually, and went to track, and I didn't play organized basketball to 10th grade. Wow.

Sean Callagy (1:58)

Okay. And so what position in baseball, and what did you do in track?

Dominique Wilkins (2:01)

I was, you know, I played center field, I played second base, third base. You know, I played multiple positions, and I was a pretty good baseball player, but after I got taller, strike zone got longer.

You know, so, but I grew a love of basketball because of the Baltimore Bullets.

Sean Callagy (2:20)

Did anybody ever hit the ball over your head in center field? Like, who is getting the ball over your head? Because you're not, I mean, obviously you're so athletic, but you're also, were you fast?

Dominique Wilkins (2:29)

I was very fast. I was very fast. And, you know, again, you know, I don't know if I loved baseball that much, even though I played, because I love track and field more.

And I was always fast. I still hold my high school record in a quarter mile. In a quarter mile. To this day, I still had that record. So I was always into track and field, high jump, triple jump, you know, anchor on the mile we lay and so on.

I wasn't a bad track.

Sean Callagy (2:55)

I would imagine that you could have played anything and have been successful. So, and you said the Bullets, and then, yeah, how does basketball emerge for you?

Dominique Wilkins (3:04)

Well, it was the Baltimore Bullets. And again, everybody played either baseball or played basketball in my neighborhood. And so we used to sneak in the Baltimore Bullets games when we were kids, you know. We got caught by Wes Unsell one time. He said, you kids can't sneak in. And I remember one time he gave us tickets to come to the games so we didn't have to sneak in. And that's when I developed a serious love for the game of basketball.

Sean Callagy (3:31)

And what was that journey like? So, sophomore year of high school, you come in. Were you already instantly a high performer as soon as you took it up? Or what was the progression?

Dominique Wilkins (3:39)

You know what? Going from Baltimore, Baltimore was a very rough city. And I left home when I was 16 because it was just, I was trying to get out in the environment we lived in. And I remember I told my mom, when I turn 16, I'm leaving. And I remember her saying, where you going? I said, I'm going to go to North Carolina, hopefully find a career in basketball. And I got discovered on the playground the next day after getting off a Greyhound bus.