"That’s Michael and I and the respect we show each other" - Dominique Wilkins reveals Michael Jordan admitted he should've won '88 dunk contest
The 1988 Slam Dunk Competition is vastly remembered as the duel between Michael Jordan and Dominique Wilkins. With MJ taking home the trophy, decades later, fans still debate on who should have won this iconic show of dazzling dunks. For Wilkins, he believes that he should have won that matchup.
As both Wilkins and Jordan go through separate lives after their playing years, 'The Human Highlight Film' shares with Sportskeeda's Mark Medina that they don't talk about Slam Dunk Competition but prefer to show each other respect.
For once, Jordan tried to talk about it but Wilkins quickly brushed it away.
“He said, ‘Yeah, yeah, you won.’ I just said, ‘How are you doing, Mike? Are you feeling good today?’ I forgot about it. That’s Michael and I and the respect we show each other,' said Wilkins.
Both basketball highflyers are part of the NBA 75th anniversary team and as they are now in their 60s, they don't really put some weight on what occurred in 1988.
"The thing is Michael and I have never talked about the dunk contest after that ever. Not once. It was an unspoken thing. We all knew what we brought. We didn’t have to talk about it. He only talked about it because we’re old men now. It’s just conversation," said Wilkins.
Dominque Wilkins is amazed that his duel with Michael Jordan is still talked about in the present time
It has been 35 years since Michael Jordan and Dominique Wilkins had the historic 1988 Slam Dunk Competition duel and fans still try to look back on how both players tried to outduel each other with their creativity.
The lifelong debate on who should have won that contest does not bother Wilkins anymore but is amazed that it is still debated decades later.
"Michael and I wanted to know who the best was. Simple as that. No matter who won, the fans got their money’s worth [laughs]," said Wilkins. "The fact that people are still talking about it more than 30 years later lets you know that those were the greatest Dunk contests ever. People still talk about, ‘You know you won!’ or ‘Michael beat you’! I hear that every day, to this day!”
Both players have two NBA Slam Dunk titles under their names. Michael Jordan won it in 1987 and 1988 while Dominique Wilkins held the trophy in 1985 and 1990.