“You ain't ready to go to war" - Dominique Wilkins describes classic war of words with Larry Bird during the 1988 Eastern Conference semi-finals

Dominique Wilkins may be one of the most underrated players of his era. Although he is considered one of the best dunkers of all time, many fans overlook his accomplishments apart from that.

Although the Hall of Famer never captured an NBA title, his nine NBA All-Star appearances and 1986 scoring title speak volumes of his dominance. In the 1988 playoffs, Dominique Wilkins and Larry Bird matched up in the second round of the playoffs.

The series saw Wilkins and the Atlanta Hawks jump out to an early lead, with both him and Bird agreeing that the Hawks should have won the series in six games. Despite that, it was the Boston Celtics who managed to mount a comeback and clinch the series in seven games.

In a recent interview with DJ Vlad, the Hall of Famer spoke about his verbal spat with Larry Bird,

"I remember seeing that article and I remember we're in Boston. We're coming out of the locker room, and I stopped and I said to my teammate, I said, 'We gonna win this bleep bleep game. If you ain't ready to fight, you ain't ready to go to war, don't come out.' I said, 'Whoever guarding me tonight gonna have a long night.'"

The spectacular Dominique Wilkins vs. Larry Bird battle

What Dominique Wilkins didn't know while rallying his team was that in the opposition locker room, Larry Bird was telling his teammates the same thing. After tying the series up at three games each, Bird and the Celtics weren't going to let Dominique Wilkins and the Hawks edge out a game on the road.

What followed was a back-and-forth battle, with Wilkins and Bird going shot for shot.

"Unfortunately, Larry Bird was telling his teammates the same thing down the other end, but it's set up for one of the greatest shootouts in the history of the seventh game. I just never seen anybody hit shots like that down the stretch of a game," Wilkins explained.

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At the end of the game, Wilkins had played for a whopping 43 minutes, going 57% from the floor on 33 attempts while scoring 47 points. On the other side, Larry Bird had played for 47 minutes, shooting 62.5% from the field while scoring 34 points.

His efforts along with that of Kevin McHale were enough to give the Celtics the win. However, as Wilkins explained, it was all respect between the two stars:

"He said, 'We both deserve to win this game, but unfortunately one of us got to go.' That's the biggest respect I think you can get from any great player, especially under those circumstances."

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