NBA: 1980s All-Decade second team

Second Team: F – Dominique Wilkins

1980s Resume: Seven seasons, one-time All-NBA First Team, two-time All-NBA Second Team, one-time All-NBA Third Team, one-time NBA leader in scoring, four-time NBA All-Star, 26.1 PPG, 6.8 RPG and 2.4 APG, 21.1 average PER

Speaking of rivalries with Larry Bird, there weren’t many one-on-one duels during the 80s that were quite as thrilling as a Bird-Dominique Wilkins showdown. Bird’s Celtics usually got the best of ‘Nique, and the Human Highlight Film was never able to add a championship to his highlight reel, but anyone who watched Wilkins play could tell he was a singularly awesome talent that made basketball worth watching.

Dominique Wilkins is hands down one of the best dunkers if not THE best dunker in the history of the sport. His trademark tomahawk jam added style to the NBA, but he was also fully capable of scoring from pretty much anywhere on the floor. When he got hot, there was little opposing defenses could do to stop him with his mix of speed, hops and impressive shooting ability.

Wilkins never got the help he needed with those Atlanta Hawks teams and he also had the misfortune of playing in an era that was dominated by Magic, Bird and MJ. But taking a quick look at his stat line for the decade, remembering that he led the league in scoring and recalling how jaw-dropping he could be to watch in person, there’s no way you can drop him any lower than Second Team honors.