Dominique Wilkins recalls the time Larry Bird told him he didn't 'belong in this league, Homes'

With his rampaging Atlanta Hawks in Boston on Wednesday to meet the rebuilding Boston Celtics, Hawk legend Dominique Wilkins thought it as good a time as any to share a few Hawks/Celtics anecdotes with the Boston Herald. Wilkins, who currently serves as the Hawks’ ambassador and television analyst, discussed in great length (if not great detail) about Celtic superstar Larry Bird’s initial rough treatment of Wilkins as a rookie during the 1982-83 season.

Bird was just in his fourth season by then, but Larry Legend was already about to turn 26, working on a Celtics team that had won an NBA championship a year and a half before. Wilkins, after being drafted by Utah and sent to Atlanta for John Drew, Freeman Williams and cash considerations, was attempting to turn around what had previously been a rather moribund Hawk franchise.

We’ll let ‘Nique, through the Herald, take it from here:

“One of the first times I ever played against him, I went out for the opening tip and I went to shake his hand. He just stood there and looked at me stone-faced with his hands behind his back,” Wilkins said recently.

“I was like, ‘Whoa.’ Then we were getting ready for the tip and he says to me, ‘You don’t belong in this league, Homes.’ I couldn’t believe it, but it happened so fast, I didn’t know what to think.

“Then they had the ball and I was on him and he said, ‘I don’t know why they got you guarding me, Homes. You can’t guard me.’ Then, whap, he hit a 3. Then he came down again and said, ‘They made a mistake putting you on me, Homes,’ and he took another 3.”

[…]

“Then a little while later, I came down on a break and he was backpedaling. I just went right after him. I jumped up and he tried to challenge, but I took that right through the rim. He fell and hit the basket support.

“He got up and said, ‘I like you, rookie. You’ve got(guts).’ I was happy for a second, and then he said, ‘But I’m still going for 40 on you tonight.’ ”

He then paused the story, stepped back and smiled.

“But I got him,” Wilkins said. “He only scored 39.”

Or 21, even.

That’s how many points Bird scored in his first meeting with Dominique – with Wilkins actually outpacing Bird in scoring 22 points in the Celtics’ blowout win. Bird scored “just” 30 in his next outing against Dominique, with 15 rebounds, and managed only 10 points on 3-18 shooting in his next time facing the rookie (with Wilkins also struggling, missing 14 of 21 shots on his way toward 17 points). Bird hit for 29 points, which I suppose is kind of like 39 points in the teams’ final regular season meeting.

Bird’s Celtics took on the Hawks in the playoffs and took the best-of three opening series, with Bird notching 26, 15, and 26 points in the three contests.

Now, Bird did score 48 and then 60 points on Dominique and the Hawks two seasons later, but the only time that magic “39” came out of the bag was in 1985, when Wilkins dropped as much on Larry.

Dominique’s tale makes for some fine apocryphal storytelling, and for once it’s nice to see someone amping up the accomplishments of the player they’re working against, rather than building up their own legacy via exaggeration.

(Hat tip: CBS Sports.)

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Kelly Dwyer is an editor for Ball Don't Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at KDonhoops@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @KDonhoops

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