Dominique Wilkins was born on January 12^th 1960, in Paris, France. This marks his 50th birthday today, and Doin Work would like to pay tribute to one of our generations most dominant players. For the record, I don’t count anyone that is younger than me, 28 or played before I was aware of what I was watching late-80’s. My “generation” may grow or shrink depending what kind of mood I’m in, but that’s what it is for now.

It’s good to see that Wilkins is active with the Hawks organization that he made such a great impact on. He has been instrumental in helping them out with player and management moves. He has helped bring some excitement to the franchise and pushed all the right buttons through drafting, and being patient with the young players. It’s good to see a franchise letting their young guys mature together, something I’m not accustomed to with the Warriors. They’ve also made solid veteran pickups along the way as well. Joe Johnson and Josh Smith did their best Nique impression last night as they beat the Celtics in a terribly officiated game.

Alas, Wilkins didn’t get the nichkname The Human Highlight Film for nothing. He’s kind of an rfp, but he is far from forgotten so we’ll call him a rp of the day. Unfortunately for him, he played his peak years in the Jordan era, and averaged 30+ a year in four separate seasons only capturing one scoring title. He was a seven time all-star, and led the Hawks to four straight 50 win seasons. He may have been around at the wrong time, and having to duel with Bird’s Celtics and then Jordan’s Bulls maybe made us belittle some of his accolades too much. He gave them both a run for their money every time they faced off, but he never could win a championship in the end. It’s tough to knock him for that, since if anyone deserved one, he did. He has far surpassed MJ on success sitting in the executive suite. I can’t see the Bobcats being where the Hawks are anytime in the next five years. Nique is still giving back, by throwing a 50^th birthday celebration and donating some proceeds to Diabetes Foundation, since he too, suffers from diabetes. I enjoyed every game I could catch of his growing up, and a trip through youtube to watch his highlights, is never one I’m opposed to making. Anyways, here’s one solid highlight reel of one of the ten best dunkers we may ever see in the NBA, enjoy.