Dominique Wilkins
The Pioneer
The frontier and an appetite for the unknown, goes first.
Dominique Wilkins reads as The Pioneer because breaking ground under pressure defines his life. Among the first North Carolina recruits to buck the ACC, he absorbed death threats and a cross burning for that choice, then later became the benchmark for Achilles recovery by returning to average nearly 30 points. His method, building an arsenal by studying opponents and refusing to concede dominance to Jordan or Bird, permanently expanded what the position could be.
“I was one of the first ones to buck the system. When I decided to go to Georgia, it's like all hell broke loose — they poured paint on my mom's car and I had a cross burning in my yard.”
“I was determined not just to come back, but to be better than I was before I left. I worked twice a day every day for nine months.”
“I took a tape of a great player and took one or two things he did great and practiced over and over. I was trying to build an arsenal — no one guy was gonna baby-guard me.”
Knuckleheads with Quentin Richardson & Darius Miles: “Dominique Wilkins”
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