Dominique Wilkins puts the seal of approval on Dwight Howard’s HOF resume for career-defining moment (EXCLUSIVE)

Out of both shock and admiration for Dwight Howard’s latest dunk, Dominique Wilkins held up a “10” sign before quickly tossing it down.

After winning two other NBA Dunk contests during All-Star weekend (1985, 1990), Wilkins witnessed Howard perform something no other dunk had ever done. Not even Wilkins himself.

During the 2008 NBA Dunk Contest, former Orlando Magic guard Jameer Nelson threw the ball to Howard before jumping just below the free throw line. The kicker: Howard performed this feat while wearing a ‘Superman’ cape, an outfit quirk that Wilkins argued deserved an automatic 10.

“He’s one of the best dunkers in history,” Wilkins told Sportskeeda. “That’s pretty much automatic. He did some pretty special stuff.”

Just over 17 years later, Wilkins will become one of Howard’s presenters when he will become inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame on Saturday (7 pm ET).

Howard’s18-year NBA career spanned various highs and lows. He became one of the NBA’s most dominant centers during his eight-year NBA career with the Orlando Magic (2004-12) with three Defensive Player of the Year awards through five playoff stints and one Finals appearance. But Howard also became a divisive journeymen with the Los Angeles Lakers (2012-13, 2019-20, 2021-22), Houston Rockets (2013-16), Atlanta Hawks (2016-17), Charlotte Hornets (2017-18) and Washington Wizards (2018-19) amid concerns about his durability, professionalism and attitude. Nonetheless, Howard still enters the Hall with plenty of credentials with eight All-NBA honors and eight All-Star appearances as well as a league leader in rebounds (five times) and blocks (twice).

Wilkins spoke to Sportskeeda about Howard’s Hall-of-Fame induction, his career and his dunks.

Editor’s note: The following one-on-one conversation has been edited and condensed.

What does it mean to you for you to be a presenter for Dwight’s Hall-of-Fame induction?

Wilkins: “It’s an honor and a pleasure that he reached out and wanted me to be a part of presenting him in the Hall-of-Fame. That’s always an honor when a colleague or when you have a young guy that is going down the same road you went down and reach out to you in such a manner. That’s a special, special honor and special trip. I was more than happy to be there for him.”

When you talk about Dwight going down the same road as you, what parallels do you see?

Wilkins: “You grow up wanting to be someone and be a part of an elite group of people. When you’re young, the Hall-of-Fame is the last thing you think about. It’s not until you get deep into your career that you think to yourself, ‘If I can stay on this pace and do the things that I need to do to represent the game and represent myself, then maybe I have the chance to be a Hall-of-Famer one day. That’s when it really hits you that you have a chance. Once you get to the point where your confidence level goes sky high and you believe in who you are as a player, you start thinking to yourself that ‘I am a Hall-of-Famer.’ For all of us who have made it, that’s what we thought. He’s no different. I have watched him since high school.

That tells you how far I go back with Dwight. I saw one of his biggest games in high school. He was going against another guy who was one of the top big men in the state. Dwight pretty much mandhandled him. That was my first introduction into who he was as a young player.”

Do you remember when that was?

Wilkins: “I think it was his last year of high school. That was so long ago. I’m so old now, man (laughs). I’m a young 65. But the first thing I noticed was what a great athlete he was. He was big. He was strong. He was an excellent rebounder. His offensive game, of course, started to mature and come around as he started to develop as a young man and a young player. So we knew he would be special coming out of high school and doing what he did with coming to the NBA. There are only a few very guys that can do that.”

I’d like you to reflect on the 2008 Dunk contest given who you are and that you’re one of the judges. You gave him a ‘10’ on his first dunk when he threw the ball behind the basket and then dunked with his left hand on a windmill. What impressed you about that dunk?

Wilkins: “The thing that impressed me the most is I had never seen a big man do that. For a guy at that size, you have to have timing and coordination to do that type of dunk. He executed it like it was nothing. The timing was great. So was the elevation and execution. Everything was great about that dunk. I was like, ‘Holy sh---! This kid is athletic! Wow!’”

For Dwight’s second dunk, Jameer Nelson throws him the ball and Dwight dunks it near the foul line while wearing the ‘Superman’ cape. You gave him a ‘10’ and then just threw down the sign. What went through your mind?

Wilkins: “I gave him a ‘10’ because of the outfit (laughs). The outfit was a 10. But more importantly, you don’t see guys that big, maybe Blake Griffin would be another one, but Dwight even more so. He was so big. But to have the type of elevation and type of creativity that he showed in that dunk contest was pretty amazing. His timing was great, man. You didn’t see him missing dunks, either, by the way.”

On Dwight’s third dunk, he threw the ball off the backboard and then dunked it with his right hand.

Wilkins: (interrupts). “Again, how many big guys do you see do that before, or anybody, for that matter? To have that type of timing and hangtime to finish with his off hand, that’s pretty impressive.”

You’ve done that, but not many others.

Wilkins: “I’ve done a few things (laughs). I can do a few things.”

And then for his final dunk, Dwight put up a small hoop on the right side of the backboard. He missed the first attempt. But the second time, Dwight put the hoop higher and then finished with a windmill. What do you remember what you thought of that one?

Wilkins: “That was crazy. He put the goal a little higher, but he went up and did it pretty easily. Dwight, for a big guy, had more creativity in the dunk contest than any big guy that I’ve seen. That’s not close. It really isn’t. He had unbelievable creativity. Most of the time, you see the creativity out of smaller, athletic guys – guys that are 6’7, 6’8, 6’6. They have that type of creativity because for a smaller guy, it looks cooler. But he made big guys look cool when he did it.

When you look at the whole package, how do you compare what he did in the ’08 dunk contest to every other dunk contest, including your own?

Wilkins: “This is how I judge dunk contests: how entertaining is the dunk contest. It’s not so much which one is the best. But what are one of the more entertaining dunk contests. His dunk contest was entertaining. I’ve seen some dunk contests where I thought, ‘Man, this wasn’t worth watching.’ But when the dunk contest is entertaining and people have gotten their money’s worth, that’s when you know it’s a good dunk contest.”

Where do you rank Dwight as a dunker overall?

Wilkins: “He’s one of the best dunkers in history. That’s pretty much automatic. He did some pretty special stuff.”

How do you compare Dwight’s defense to other greats like Hakeem Olajuwon?

Wilkins: “He’s one of the best defenders in the history of this league. There is no question on how dominant he was defensively. That’s the truth. A lot of times guys didn’t want to come to the basket against Dwight (laughs). They didn’t want to come to the basket against him.

It was his ability to move without the ball. He wasn’t one of those guys that had a lack of mobility. He was very mobile for a big guy. He was very mobile. It’s not just about being athletically solid. But his court awareness and ability to help defensively was huge. You have a lot of big guys where it takes them a little bit more time to get there from A to B. But with Dwight, he was quick for a big guy. He was very quick for a big guy.”

How do you look at Dwight’s career overall? He had so much talent, but he had two distinctly different chapters in Orlando and then a lot of different stops and roles with other teams.

Wilkins: “Coming into the NBA, Dwight had an opportunity to be around a lot of professional guys that he could learn something from. But he just had a natural ability. He was a man-child. He was a kid coming into a man’s body. He didn’t have to worry about people pounding on him and not being able to give it back. He came in ready to do that.”

What do you think of the criticism that followed him about his intensity and focus on the game?

Wilkins: “One thing I’ll say about Dwight is that he was a big kid and he just loved the game. He was always smiling and always having fun. Sometimes, that can be misconstrued as a person that is not very serious. Everybody focuses on the game differently. Everybody has a different mentality to prepare themselves to play. I was different. He was different. I can go down the line with many guys who were different with the way they approached the game. Then you had some guys that were always the same as far as them preparing themselves. Before the game, I was in the locker room cracking jokes with my teammates. But when the clock started, it was all business. Everybody prepared differently.”

So do you view it as everyone can have their own mannerisms, all that matters is how you produce on the floor?

Wilkins: “Absolutely. Absolutely. That’s what it is. But look, he’s no different. He’s a great player. But a lot of times when you don’t win it all, people are quick to judge, especially when you’re a great player. But when you’re not a great player and you don’t win, nobody says a damn thing. So you never can win that back. There are lot of great big men that played in this league. But to be competitive for that long, that shows the way that you stand.”

As his presenter, to what extent did you mentor Dwight throughout his career?

Wilkins: “I knew him since he was a kid. He could always ask questions and ask for advice and could be happy to see guys like myself. We all are a part of the same family at the end of the day. He’s no different.”

As someone who has witnessed his career up close, what do you think will define Dwight’s legacy aside from his accolades?

Wilkins: “I think it’s his longevity. To play as long as he did at 18 years, not a lot of guys get a chance or an opportunity to play that long. He reinvented himself a couple of times That says a lot about your mentality, heart and determination. Kudos goes to him.”

Mark Medina is an NBA insider for Sportskeeda. Follow him on X, Blue Sky, Instagram, Facebook and Threads.