101 Greats of European Basketball

On January 13, 2001, Wilkins saw his jersey No. 21
(in Europe he played with that number reversed, 12)
was retired in Atlanta. Only Bob Petit and Lou Hudson
before Wilkins had received that honor at the Georgia
Dome. He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial
Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts,
in 2006.
Dominique Wilkins wasn’t even the winningest
American player in European basketball, not the best
American player to ever play in Europe, but I would say
that, together with Bob McAdoo, he was the biggest
NBA star to ever play here.
Dominique Wilkins, an American from Paris.
In the Italian League, he averaged 17.8 points and 7.3
rebounds while in the Euroleague he averaged 17.9
points and 7.0 rebounds, but his club’s archrival, Kinder
Bologna, put an end to the team’s European dream this
time.
In the EuroLeague quarterfinals, Kinder eliminated
TeamSystem 2-0 and then in the Italian League final
series, Kinder succeeded 3-2 after an unbelievable fifth
game. If April 11 of 1996 was the happiest day Wilkins
experienced in Europe, May 31, 1998, was one to stick
in his memory forever for the opposite reasons. With
13 seconds to go, his team was 4 points ahead, 72-68,
and the title was almost secure. But then one of the
most famous plays in European basketball took place:
Predrag Danilovic hit a three with an additional free
throw from a foul committed by... Dominique Wilkins.
Danilovic scored the free throw, David Rivers turned
the ball over on the last offensive play for TeamSystem,
and Kinder won it all in overtime. It wasn’t the happiest
of endings to a brilliant career.
Dominique Wilkins
101 greats of european basketball
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