Continuing my profiles of Hawks players, here is a profile of the Hawks' best player during the 1980s and early 1990s. He won a scoring title, and he delighted fans as "the Human Highlight Film". He is Dominique Wilkins.

Dominique Wilkins was born January 12, 1960 in Paris, France. His father was a member of the U.S Air Force, and eventually the family settled in Washington, North Carolina. Wilkins attended Washington High School in his new home, where he won two straight MVPs while leading the school to two straight state titles in 1978-79. He then attended the University of Georgia, where he averaged 21.6 PPG and 7.5 RPG during his three seasons there. Wilkins earned All-Southeastern Conference (SEC) Player of the Year honors as a junior before declaring for the 1982 NBA Draft. Wilkins was selected third overall (behind James Worthy and Terry Cummings) by the Utah Jazz, but a combination of cash problems for the Jazz and Wilkins' own reluctance to join the team led to him being traded to the Atlanta Hawks for John Drew, Freeman Williams and cash. It proved to be a steal for the Hawks.

Wilkins' rookie season was a statistical success; he averaged 17.5 PPG and 5.8 RPG, earning a spot on the NBA All-Rookie 1st team and helping the Hawks reach the playoffs. Wilkins would eclipse 20 PPG by his second season, and by 1984-85, he emerged into the public eye when he won the Slam Dunk competition over a young rookie named Michael Jordan. Wilkins would win his only league scoring title the following year, averaging 30.3 PPG and leading the Hawks to their first postseason series win since 1979. Wilkins earned his first All-Star appearance that year; he would earn eight more selections during his career (1987-94).

Wilkins was a scoring machine as the Hawks emerged into a threat in the East during the late 80s; he wouldn't average under 25.9 PPG in any of his full seasons with the Hawks between 1985 and 1994, and his average exceeded 30 PPG twice (career best of 30.7 PPG in 1987-88). During that season's playoffs, he and Larry Bird had a memorable duel in game 7 of their semifinal matchup; Wilkins scored 47 points, but Bird scored 20 of his 34 points in the 4th as the Boston Celtics prevailed 118-116. That proved to be the apex of the Hawks with Wilkins on the team; the team never again won a playoff series while Wilkins played for them, but he remained a spectacular performer despite the team's failures. After suffering a ruptured Achilles tendon during the 1991-92 season, many though Wilkins' career was over, but he responded with a 29.9 PPG average the following year, finishing second to Jordan in the scoring race.

Midway through the 1993-94 season, Wilkins was traded to the woeful Los Angeles Clippers for Danny Manning, as Hawks management was convinced Manning would lead them to an NBA title. Wilkins played out the season with the Clippers, then became a journeyman to finish his career. Wilkins signed with the Celtics in 1994, averaging 17.8 PPG as Boston squeaked into the playoffs, then joined Panathinaikos of the Greek league, where he averaged 20.9 PPG and leading the team to the Greek Cup and was named MVP of the Euroleague Final Four and the Greek Cup Final. He then joined the San Antonio Spurs, where he averaged 18.2 PPG, but the Spurs slumped to 20-62. After stints with Teamsystem Bologna (Italien League) and the Orlando Magic in 1998-99, Wilkins retired having scored 26,668 points (24.8 PPG; ninth entering the 2008-09 season) and pulling down 7,169 rebounds (6.7 RPG), and he was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2006.

Season-by-Season Statistical Review:
1982-83: 82 GP, 82 GS, 17.5 PPG, 5.8 RPG, 1.6 APG, 49.3 FG%, 68.2 FT%, 18.2 3P%
1983-84: 81 GP, 81 GS, 21.6 PPG, 7.2 RPG, 1.6 APG, 47.9 FG%, 77.0 FT%, 0 3P
1984-85: 81 GP, 81 GS, 27.4 PPG, 6.9 RPG, 2.5 APG, 45.1 FG%, 80.6 FT%, 30.9 3P%
1985-86: 78 GP, 78 GS, 30.3 PPG, 7.9 RPG, 2.6 APG, 46.8 FG%, 81.8 FT%, 18.6 3P%
1986-87: 79 GP, 79 GS, 29.0 PPG, 6.3 RPG, 3.3 APG, 46.3 FG%, 81.8 FT%, 29.2 3P%
1987-88: 78 GP, 76 GS, 30.7 PPG, 6.4 RPG, 2.9 APG, 46.4 FG%, 82.6 FT%, 29.5 3P%
1988-89: 80 GP, 80 GS, 26.2 PPG, 6.9 RPG, 2.6 APG, 46.4 FG%, 84.4 FT%, 27.6 3P%
1989-90: 80 GP, 79 GS, 26.7 PPG, 6.5 RPG, 2.5 APG, 48.4 FG%, 80.7 FT%, 32.2 3P%
1990-91: 81 GP, 81 GS, 25.9 PPG, 9.0 RPG, 3.3 APG, 47.0 FG%, 82.9 FT%, 34.1 3P%
1991-92: 42 GP, 42 GS, 28.1 PPG, 7.0 RPG, 3.8 APG, 46.4 FG%, 83.5 FT%, 28.9 3P%
1992-93: 71 GP, 70 GS, 29.9 PPG, 6.8 RPG, 3.2 APG, 46.8 FG%, 82.8 FT%, 38.0 3P%
1993-94: 74 GP, 74 GS, 26.0 PPG, 6.5 RPG, 2.3 APG, 44.0 FG%, 84.7 FT%, 28.8 3P%
1994-95: 77 GP, 64 GS, 17.8 PPG, 5.2 RPG, 2.2 APG, 42.4 FG%, 78.2 FT%, 38.8 3P%
1995-96: Played professionally in Greece
1996-97: 63 GP, 26 GS, 18.2 PPG, 6.4 RPG, 1.9 APG, 41.7 FG%, 80.3 FT%, 29.3 3P%
1997-98: Played professionally in Italy
1998-99: 27 GP, 2 GS, 5.0 PPG, 2.6 RPG, 0.6 APG, 37.9 FG%, 69.0 FT%, 26.3 3P%