Dominique Wilkins Story Told Like Never Before in New ‘SEC Storied’ Film
SEC and NBA legend Dominique Wilkins is the subject of the latest SEC Storied film “Dominique Belongs To Us”, and it reveals a side of the superstar that few may know about.
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Dr. Dunk, Dr. Dunkenstein, The Human Highlight Film…all nicknames associated with one of the greatest basketball players to ever set foot on the hardwood, Dominique Wilkins. Everyone has seen the explosive, go-hard, high-energy player, and many have heard the articulate and insightful in-game analyst on NBA broadcasts.
But until you sit down and see this film, you really don’t have a complete picture of the man they simply call…’Nique.
The film is part of the SEC Storied series produced by ESPN films featured on the SEC Network, and is set to make it’s network premier on Friday, April 17 at 8 pm ET on ESPN. If you are a fan of ESPN films, this is one you don’t want to miss.
The story takes the viewers through Wilkins’ life, starting in the poverty stricken projects of Baltimore, where an 11-year old Wilkins was forced to help feed his family by playing street basketball for money against older children. It’s from these humble beginnings that we really see how the man who has become one of Atlanta’s favorite sons was shaped.
Director Kenan K. Holley said he had to put the fan side away while filming, stating at a premier of the movie in Atlanta, “I said to myself, I can’t admire this dude while I’m trying to make a movie…I gotta be able to direct.”
Trying not to admire a man like Dominique Wilkins is hard to do, and once you realize all he had to endure on his path to NBA greatness, it becomes practically impossible.
The film is poignant, but not patronizing in the least, with Wilkins’ family, friends, and former teammates from Georgia and the Atlanta Hawks all joining in to help weave the fabric of this compelling documentary.
The recurring theme throughout the film — coming both from Wilkins himself as well as the others interviewed — was that Wilkins had a deep-rooted need to be loved and accepted, not so much for his basketball skills but more for the person he was. His desire to feel part of a community is where this film finds a side of the former Georgia Bulldog that fans may have never seen.
“I couldn’t have told you this story any better than ESPN told this story tonight.” – Dominique Wilkins
“Often times I’ve told part of the story of my life, and a lot of people can’t believe it, ” Wilkins said during a Q&A session at the premier. “It’s very hard coming up in Baltimore, Md. with eight brothers and sisters and one parent. My mom, I don’t know how she did the stuff she did in the projects with eight kids, and made sure those kids got fed.I felt it was my mission, it was my duty and my honor to take care of the family.”
If you are looking for a movie featuring a barrage of basketball highlights and thunderous dunks (although there are a few) then go hunt down some YouTube clips. This is a story about Dominique the man, and boldly opens a window to a past he was trying to keep locked away.
We learn how and why Wilkins was lured away from the promise of greatness in ACC basketball and to leave the hallowed borders of North Carolina to attend college where the basketball program had never once been to an NCAA Tournament.
How did that happen? Former Georgia coach Hugh Durham and those who recruited Wilkins in Athens shed some light on that question, but you’ll have to watch the film for the answer.
The story of Wilkins brief exile to Utah after the NBA draft, and how eventual Hawks teammate Dan Roundfield helped to secure bringing the UGA hero back home is told.
Atlanta, GA – April 14, 2015 – Ventanas: Dominique Wilkins (l) and Hugh Durham during the SEC Storied “Dominique Belongs to Us” premiere (Photo by Richard DuCree / ESPN Images)
“We played summer ball,” Wilkins said of Roundfield. “So I said ‘Dan, is there any way they can trade to get me to Atlanta? Man, I don’t want to go to Utah’. They wanted me to play power forward, and Adrian Dantley was going to play small forward, and I didn’t want to play power forward. So, I knew in a very short time that I was coming to Atlanta.”
From Baltimore, to Little Washington, N.C., to Athens and then Atlanta (with a brief pit stop in Utah) – Wilkins’ journey was filled with emotion and enduring friendships, and a town who embraced him as a hero before absconding him as a turncoat sellout.
That town — Little Washington — is not only where the legend of Dominique Wilkins got its start, but also where he discovered his ability to forgive and to find closure in his life.
“I’m forever entrenched there,” Wilkins told me. “Because it’s a new establishment, a new attitude, a new focus. It was because of the mayor, the new mayor there…it was because of him and ESPN that happened. I couldn’t have told you this story any better than ESPN told this story tonight.”
Image – ESPN.com/SECNetwork