“(Michael Jordan) Was Possessed… Jesus Is Coming”: Dominique Wilkins Unravels the Fear of Facing Bulls Legend

Michael Jordan had many iconic rivalries that shaped his career. Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Clyde Drexler, and Isiah Thomas to name some. But there was another battle in the east that may have been a hush in comparison to these. Dominique Wilkins and MJ faced each other 48 times, and it was a close-scoring battle. So while the former rivalries were for Jordan, this battle was for Wilkins to have a takeaway — a motivation unknowingly.

Both hailing from North Carolina as high schoolers, Wilkins had a lot of respect for Michael Jordan. A freshman then, ‘His Airness’ had stunned the Hawks star by taking over in the last two minutes of a game. Wilkins knew then that kid was going to be great. But how great, he could only see when facing him on the court years later.

“If you ain’t ever faced him you don’t understand.” He continued on All the Smoke Podcast, “Man I played against some of the most hard-nosed talented players ever played this game. He was a phenomenon and he had attitude to go with it. I mean when you played against Mike, his eyes was bloodshot red every game like he was possessed. And I used to say to myself, I got to go work tonight, Jesus is coming you know, and so he and I you know we had so much respect.”

In the 48 times they faced each other, the record, 25-23 was in favor of Michael Jordan, but the averages were even closer. MJ averaged 31.8 and Wilkins was just short of 30 with 29.8 points per game. Wilkins even managed to score at a rate of 47.8% FG consistently. “The only twofold in NBA history to average 30 points against one another our whole career,” the Hawks star reveals.

However, their most iconic competition came in the 1988 dunk contest. Jordan got the better of Wilkins in a controversial outcome.

Michael Jordan and his controversial dunk battle

The 1988 All-Star Weekend was in the Chicago Bulls‘ home stadium. Wilkins had won the dunk contest against Jordan about three years ago, in 1985. But this time, though Jordan was yet to win the championship, he was already the poster boy for all the fans in the arena.

The two showcased some of their finest, nicest, and cleanest dunks ever seen. Wilkins even made two straight 50 points but his final shot scored a 45.

Jordan had the final shot left after Wilkins. After missing his first shot, he went to the opposite end of the floor, leaped from the free-throw line, double-clutched midair, and made a memorable shot. Thus, he got a perfect score and claimed the slam dunk title.

“I thought the dunk contest was over and they’re like, ‘no, no he got one more. And so that was the famous free-throw-line dunk that he attempted twice.'” Wilkins revealed on Vlad TV. Michael Jordan would agree that the win needed to go to Wilkins but he has no regrets. MJ was one of the finest competitors he ever faced and got the best out of him every single time.

“Stay tuned for more such updates and join us for the exciting second episode of the “Dual Threat Show” as our host BG12 sits down with Georgia Bulldogs star and Mountain West All-Freshman Team Selection, Asia Avinger.”