Dominique Wilkins entered the NBA in 1992 and played till 1995 before taking a shot at overseas basketball. Greek club Panathinaikos offered him one of the richest contracts offered by an overseas club. On 16th September, Dominique sat down with ‘Vlad TV’ to discuss his time in Greece and mentioned how he had to take legal action to receive the $4,000,000 owed to him by the Greek club.
Advertisement
After playing a season with the Boston Celtics in his 12th year in the NBA, Dominique decided to move to Greece in 1995, as he couldn’t refuse the offer they presented to him. The royal treatment was just too overwhelming for the NBA player. Wilkins was welcomed by 13,000 fans during his first practice session. He was even put up by the club in a four-storey mansion made of marble and his taxes were paid by the club too.
Greek Club refused to pay Dominique Wilkins
Despite all the hoopla that surrounded his welcome in Greece, the relationship did not thrive for long. Due to his missing games owing to injury, Panathinaikos decided to withhold $4,000,000 that they had deposited as a line of credit in a US Bank. In the interview with ‘Vlad TV’, Dominique detailed the story that led to a lawsuit being filed to receive the money. Here is what he said:
“I was hurt. So, I didn’t play in the final game because I was hurt. They said go back to US and come back next year. We start this all over again. So when I got there, they said by the way we are not paying. I said you are paying if you want to or not because you forget you put the money in the US bank. I ended up getting paid.”
“[When asked abou the lawsuit] They lost that lawsuit. They thought that the same rules apply here in the States and it didn’t. It really wasn’t that long. It may have lasted a week. Line of credit is what it is. They tried and it didn’t work.”
Wilkins’ time in Greece was interesting, to say the least. From being treated like a king with a mansion to being hurt by fans throwing coins before the game. From being treated ‘like a dog’ by the tough European coaches to winning the EuroLeague Final Four championship. He experienced it all.
Wilkins’ advice to Ja Morant
Dominique Wilkins, in the same interview, left advice for Ja Morant, whose recent actions have left him in a lot of negative press. With multiple incidents of him flashing a gun on social media going viral, the league has had to take severe actions to deal with the offense. He reportedly lost around $70,000,000 due to his behavior and is set to miss the first 25 games of the upcoming season.
Dominique urged Ja to think about the choices he is making and the people he has in his entourage. He also said that no one is worth losing 70 million dollars for, and once you hit rock bottom, none of these people will be around to help you get back up. Wilkins praised Morant for his abilities and considered him one of the best high-flyers in the league.
