Racism Caused Dominique Wilkins To Leave Hometown Before College

Hall of Famer Dominique Wilkins had planned to attend North Carolina State out of high school.

He grew up nearly two hours away in Washington, N.C. Things changed when another school entered the picture at the last minute.

"Then the University of Georgia came out of nowhere," Wilkins said during an appearance on the All The Smoke podcast. "So five other high school All-Americans, we all decided to go there together."

The decision led to Wilkins experiencing racism from the locals.

"When I made that decision, all hell broke loose," Wilkins said. "I got all Fs on my transcripts, paint poured on my mom's car and I had a cross burn in my yard."

Posted by ROYAL on Thursday, January 9, 2025

It only got worse. Wilkins said the entire town turned against him.

"I got arrested the next day," said Wilkins, who spent most of his NBA career with the Atlanta Hawks. "I'm coming out of a store and the gentleman said, `we've got to arrest you. We saw you steal a tape.' I'm like, `Why would I steal a $3 dollar tape? I've got $3,000 in my pocket. You kidding me?'

That was enough for the Wilkins family. After leaving the police station, they left the city behind and never looked back for several years.

"We left at 12 o'clock at night, the whole family," Wilkins said. "I didn't go back for 30 years until my high school coach (Dave Smith) passed."