- Dominique Wilkins was raised alongside eight siblings by his mother and had a tough childhood
- The Hawks star spent part of his childhood in Baltimore, which he recently spoke about
- Dominique Wilkins revealed that the gangsters in his area protected him because of his talent
Dominique Wilkins was on the NBA’s 75th Anniversary Team and is arguably the greatest Atlanta Hawks player ever. But his life could have gone a lot differently if he had given in to some of the worst influences around him during a tough childhood. Thankfully he didn’t, and he recently discussed why.
“People in the neighborhood, looked after her (his mom) because she took care of the neighborhood,” Dominique Wilkins said. “She cooked for ’em, you know, and had people in my life then that was like brothers and sisters to me.
“And she fought hard for her kids but that was a tough neighborhood to grow up in. Cuz you had to be in a, one would say, gang, to go from one block to the next.
“But because I played basketball, it was hands-off throughout the neighborhood. It was like, ‘Hey, he’s gonna be the first one to get out of this neighborhood, none of you guys touch him.’ And that was the comfort that I had.”
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Amazingly, his entire community got behind Dominique Wilkins’ talent and let him grow to become the superstar he became. Wilkins played for 17 years in the NBA, racking up nine All-Star appearances, seven All-NBA selections, and a scoring title.
Dominique Wilkins Had To Deal With Serious Racism As A Youngster
By the time Dominique Wilkins was old enough for high school, his family had left Baltimore. He played basketball in Washington, North Carolina, and he also recently opened up on the racism he had to deal with there.
“The other thing I remember coming out of a department store, and someone followed me out and said, Hey, a security guy, he said, We’re going to have to arrest you because you stole this tape.”
“And they had threw a tape in a planter right next to the store… And it was crazy because I’m looking at him. I’m like, I had $3,000 in my pocket. And I said, I’m going to steal a $5 tape. Are you kidding?
“So we packed up my whole family in a truck… we left for Atlanta that night. And I never went back until my statue was unveiled.”
Coming from all the situations he came from, it is impressive that Dominique Wilkins was able to achieve everything he did. His story is an inspiration for everyone who finds themselves in a tough situation.
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