The_Lyrical_Miracle
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- Oct 30, 2021
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The showdown was legendary. Dominique Wilkins was the premier dunker in the NBA, and Michael Jordan was the premier scorer in the NBA, although Jordan clearly rivaled by Dominique.
The difference in team success? Doc Rivers once said it plainly "The difference between Dominique and Michael was that Michael had Scottie Pippen and Dominique had me". Wilkins was a legendary scorer and talent in NBA history who couldn't get past the Celtics (after they beat Mike the bulls in the first round) and couldn't outscore Michael for stats, always coming in 2nd.
Dominique had already won the 1985 Dunk Contest, and had the 1986 contest in the bag had it not been for his short teammate who skied named Spud Webb. Then, Michael won the 1987 Dunk contest, of which Dominique didn't take part.
So the showdown was set. Michael and Dominique were set to both be in the 1988 Dunk contest, when the Dunk was still a novelty and the contest was still sought by the highest of competitors who weren't afraid of getting beat. The two put up massively high numbers until the final dunks, when Dominique needed at least a 47 to seal his victory over MJ in Chicago. The dunk contest was still in its infancy, and if you go back and just watch the Dominique two-handed windmill cold-cult comparing it to today's dunks, it's not a fair critique. Based on judging at the time, Wilkins final dunk was a monster, when power still mattered more in dunks. Everyone knew it was a 50 when it happened, and if not a 49 or 48 to win. Instead, Wilkins was given a 45 to allow an opportunity for MJ to get a perfect 50 to win.
We've all seen MJ's heroic pose during his "foul-line" dunk (he was well in front of the foul line), he tried multiple times to get it, and he wasn't close to the first person to do it... as the ESPN "be like mike" generation is led to believe.
It was a pretty pedestrian dunk, but exaggerated and exemplified to create a new superstar by Nike, who had gone all in on whomever won the 1988 dunk contest as their primary focus for selling shoes.
Jordan was gift-wrapped the then-important dunk contest and proceeded to reap the benefits of his stolen glory, and other know it.
Jerome Kersey, who was part of that dunk contest:
"He (Dominique) was so high off the ground, with such power and grace, that all the players on the bench were saying, "Fifty." His first two dunks of the finals were 50s. But for some reason they gave him 45 on the last one. It was like, Are you kidding? How can that be? We just looked at one another on the bench and ducked our heads. The expression on Nique's face was, What do I have to do here?"
Even MJ acknowledged it, as Dominique quoted MJ as saying:
'Hey, you know, you probably won. You know it; I know it. But hey, you in Chicago. What can I tell you?' "
Back when the dunk contest meant a LOT... what a screw job.
The difference in team success? Doc Rivers once said it plainly "The difference between Dominique and Michael was that Michael had Scottie Pippen and Dominique had me". Wilkins was a legendary scorer and talent in NBA history who couldn't get past the Celtics (after they beat Mike the bulls in the first round) and couldn't outscore Michael for stats, always coming in 2nd.
Dominique had already won the 1985 Dunk Contest, and had the 1986 contest in the bag had it not been for his short teammate who skied named Spud Webb. Then, Michael won the 1987 Dunk contest, of which Dominique didn't take part.
So the showdown was set. Michael and Dominique were set to both be in the 1988 Dunk contest, when the Dunk was still a novelty and the contest was still sought by the highest of competitors who weren't afraid of getting beat. The two put up massively high numbers until the final dunks, when Dominique needed at least a 47 to seal his victory over MJ in Chicago. The dunk contest was still in its infancy, and if you go back and just watch the Dominique two-handed windmill cold-cult comparing it to today's dunks, it's not a fair critique. Based on judging at the time, Wilkins final dunk was a monster, when power still mattered more in dunks. Everyone knew it was a 50 when it happened, and if not a 49 or 48 to win. Instead, Wilkins was given a 45 to allow an opportunity for MJ to get a perfect 50 to win.
We've all seen MJ's heroic pose during his "foul-line" dunk (he was well in front of the foul line), he tried multiple times to get it, and he wasn't close to the first person to do it... as the ESPN "be like mike" generation is led to believe.
It was a pretty pedestrian dunk, but exaggerated and exemplified to create a new superstar by Nike, who had gone all in on whomever won the 1988 dunk contest as their primary focus for selling shoes.
Jordan was gift-wrapped the then-important dunk contest and proceeded to reap the benefits of his stolen glory, and other know it.
Jerome Kersey, who was part of that dunk contest:
"He (Dominique) was so high off the ground, with such power and grace, that all the players on the bench were saying, "Fifty." His first two dunks of the finals were 50s. But for some reason they gave him 45 on the last one. It was like, Are you kidding? How can that be? We just looked at one another on the bench and ducked our heads. The expression on Nique's face was, What do I have to do here?"
Even MJ acknowledged it, as Dominique quoted MJ as saying:
'Hey, you know, you probably won. You know it; I know it. But hey, you in Chicago. What can I tell you?' "
Back when the dunk contest meant a LOT... what a screw job.
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