Michael Jordan and Dominique Wilkins were two of the most exciting stars the 80s and the 90s had to offer. Their battle in the dunk contest remains one of the most iconic moments in the history of the league. They both entered the league in the early 80s and had many epic battles against one another when MJ was with the Bulls and Wilkins was with the Hawks.
MJ ended up having the better career out of the 2, considering that he became the GOAT and led the Bulls to multiple three-peats. Wilkins himself was a 9-time All-Star and amassed great individual accolades of his own. And while their games against one another in the NBA are fondly remembered by fans of that era, one of the forgotten duels they had was in a pick-up game in St. Louis on the 4th of July in 1986.
Both put on an absolute show for the crowd, showing off their dunking skills and blowing past one another on multiple occasions. Jordan’s skills were also on display as he made some extremely tough finishes.
The duo played against each other 45 times in the NBA, a staggering number. And while Jordan averaged slightly better stats against Dominique’s teams with 31 points and 7 rebounds per game, Wilkins wasn’t far off, with 29.8 points and 6.8 rebounds in those games. And Dominique even acknowledged how difficult it was to face MJ.
Several great players from MJ’s era aren’t spoken about as much as they should be today, largely thanks to Jordan’s single-handed dominance in the 90s that made a lot of people simply dismiss the other stars of that generation. But it’s fun to remember that there was a time that MJ himself was trying to make a name for himself in the league and that he had endless legendary battles with players who had a huge impact on the history of the league themselves.
