Dominique Wilkins was one of Michael Jordan’s foremost rivals, especially when it came to the NBA’s Slam Dunk contest. The Atlanta Hawks star is a revered figure in the city for his immense contributions and crucial playoff finishes for the franchise. However, despite having built such a grand and elite status in the city of Atlanta, Wilkins was once a victim of an unfortunate racial incident in a restaurant. The NBA top 75 player was denied a seat at the restaurant because of his skin color. And the worse part is, this happened years after the civil rights laws were in place in the United States. Wilkins narrated this incident to DJ Vlad in his recent appearance on VladTV.
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It’s quite unfair knowing how Dominque Wilkins had to go through such an incident while being an undisputed legend for Atlanta’s NBA franchise. All of this shows the struggle Dominique Wilkins had to live with and endure during his as a Black American citizen in the United States.
Atlanta Hawks legend Dominique Wilkins once faced unfortunate racial discrimination at a restaurant
Atlanta Hawks legend Dominique Wilkins narrated an unfortunate incident wherein he faced racial discrimination. As he revealed to DJ Vlad, life was tough as a Black American for Wilkins to get past by in a majorly-White dominated city of Atlanta. Wilkins was denied a seat at one of the city’s restaurant, which was indeed a harrowing experience for the Hawks star. The restaurant justified their decision by stating Wilkins was wearing improper attire when he entered the restaurant. In reality, he was well dressed than everybody else and there were White men having lunch with their shorts and sandals on. Here is how Wilkins narrated the incident to DJ Vlad during the interview.
“The problem was that the restaurant that I went to, you know, when I went in, I went in with a friend of mine, and we just wanted to eat outside. And I was dressed better than everybody, every guy there at that time. And they said that, ‘Sorry, we can’t serve you.’ I’m like, ‘What?’ And he said ‘You have track pants on.’ Like I said, ‘What is your definition of track pants?’ They said ‘We don’t care we just can’t seat you.’ And they went back but there’s nobody sitting outside. And even if I want to sit inside, it should have been fun. But it’s two white gentlemen walk up beside me, they had shorts on, and button down shirts, and sandals. And she [the waiter] said, ‘Excuse me sirs, we will seat you in a minute. Let us finish talking here.’ And they refused to let me sit out and have lunch. And that was their big mistake. Because of first of all, they judge me wrongly. They’re tired that they thought I had on to what they was looking at. And people like that should never be in business.”
When this incident took place, Wilkins called out the restaurant, Le Bilboquet, through a Twitter post (now X). Though the restaurant offered a public apology to the NBA legend, Wilkins might never forget this experience for the rest of his life. The Hawks star reiterated that the business should not exist as an establishment if they were to continue such prejudice and discrimination based on one’s skin color.
Wilkins was once one of MJ’s foremost rivals in the NBA’s Slam Dunk contest
The Slam Dunk contests are the highlights of the All-Star weekends every year. Players with the best athletic abilities and agility give their best to show off the flashiest dunks in front of thousands of fans. And in the ’80s decade, the competition was somewhat like a pitched battle between Dominique Wilkins and Michael Jordan to win the Slam Dunk title.
Two of their foremost Slam Dunk face-offs came in during the 1985 and 1988 All-Star Weekends, with both stars taking home the title once against each other. Nique was the winner of the 1985 Slam Dunk contest with his rim-rattling dunk and MJ avenged this loss in 1988 when he faced the Hawks star once again. Though Jordan edged Wilkins out in the 1988 competition, he had once jokingly admitted that Nique should have been the real winner. To this day, many fans look back and reminisce the rivalry between these two legendary players from the erstwhile decades of the league.
