NBA Great Dominique Wilkins Reflects on a Legendary Career

RCB President Bruce Rogers with Rotarian Josh Jones and Dominique Wilkins

This week the Rotary Club of Birmingham (RCB) welcomed NBA legend Dominique Wilkins, who serves as Atlanta Hawks Vice President of Basketball and Special Advisor to the CEO. Wilkins reflected on his storied career as one of the greatest basketball players of all time, leading him to be known as “The Human Highlight Film.”

Wilkins shared his vision of aspiring to greatness, playing against greats like Michael Jordan and competing in the Olympics as part of the Team USA “Dream Team.” He described how he learned more from failures than moments of success and how he overcame a devastating Achilles tendon injury to become an even stronger player. He discussed his drive to help others, including support for charities like Birmingham-based KultureCity and the business endeavors such as Legacy Fund.

“The only way that you can measure your greatness is you’ve got to compete against the greatest,” Wilkins said. “In business, it’s the same thing—you have to have someone to challenge you. Jordan and I, we challenged each other to the highest limit.”

“We brought out the best in each other. We’re the only two foes in NBA history to ever average 30 against each other for an entire career,” Wilkins said. “I look back on those games and they were legendary.”

Bio for Dominique Wilkins

The most celebrated player to ever put on an Atlanta Hawks uniform and represented in front of State Farm Arena by an 18,500-pound bronze statue, Wilkins is currently the Hawks’ Vice President of Basketball and Special Advisor to the CEO.

Additionally, Wilkins has an extensive entrepreneurial career. In what Barron’s called a “full court press for tech,” Wilkins has partnered with consulting powerhouse 3Ci to “connect software developers and coders from underserved communities with start-ups.” Some of his other entrepreneurial endeavors include being an owner of the Birmingham Legion, A USL team and also the New Jersey 5s, a Premier Level team on the Major League Pickleball Tour.

Wilkins is also extremely active with local and national charity endeavors. He is the current board chairman of Kulturecity the nation’s leading nonprofit on invisible disabilities and sensory needs and has also done work with the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, Special Olympics, Muscular Dystrophy Association and American Lung Association.