Hall of Famer Dominique Wilkins Reflects on His “Fun” Battles Against Michael Jordan

Rivalries are common between players in the NBA. While some extend to a bitter rivalry, there are some that bring the best out of each other. In the case of Michael Jordan and Dominique Wilkins, the two stars loved going up against one another. As two of the big stars in the NBA, they always put on a show for the fans when the Chicago Bulls and Hawks faced off. Recently, Wilkins spoke about how he and MJ wanted to beat each other in their battles.

Both Jordan and Wilkins were showtime players in the NBA. While His Airness was ripping through the league with his scoring, the Human Highlight was mesmerizing fans every night. The two stars faced off 45 times in the regular season. Surprisingly, they had just one playoff battle against one another. However, each time they matched up, both brought their best to the table.

Wilkins spoke about his battles with Jordan and said both wanted to best the other every single time.

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The legendary battles between Michael Jordan and Dominique Wilkins

While appearing on the Dan Patrick Show, Wilkins spoke about his NBA rival, MJ. He said out of all his rivals in the league, Jordan was the most fun player to compete against. The Human Highlight Film also said it was fun playing against Jordan because they both got the best out of each other.

Dominique said: “Out to fall the guys I played against, probably the most fun guy to play against, Michael Jordan. Because he raised your level of play.” Wilkins continued saying, “It was fun, what I mean by that is that I was excited to play against him. Of course, the competitive level was a whole different level because we were very competitive. We wanted to kick each other’s butt there’s no question about that.”

In their 45 matches against each other in the regular season, both stars arguably were at their best. Michael Jordan got his assassin side out, putting up 31.16 points, 7 rebounds, and 6 assists per game. On the other hand, Wilkins was not far off averaging 29.8 points, 6.8 rebounds, and nearly 3 assists per game. However, like most times, Jordan emerged victorious with a record of 27-18 against Dominique. In addition, he also swept Wilkins in the playoffs back in the 1993 playoffs.

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However, their most iconic competition came in the 1988 dunk contest. Jordan got the better of Wilkins in a controversial decision as the contest took place in Chicago. But despite all the battles, their rivalry was one of the best with both guys giving it their all to come out on the top.