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It was 40 years ago this week that the United States first officially paused to remember and celebrate the life and achievements of Martin Luther King Jr. with a day in his honor.
On that first Martin Luther King Jr. Day, in the city where King was born, Dominique Wilkins and the Atlanta Hawks took to court as part of the celebration — and it’s a day the Hall of Famer will never forget.
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“Being in Atlanta and having that first MLK game, I don’t think people understand how big and how blessed we were to play in the first game on his birthday,” Wilkins told NBC Sports, reflecting on a game where he dropped 33 on the Bucks in a Hawks win.
Two years later on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the Human Highlight Reel lived up to his nickname dropping 45 points on the Knicks in Madison Square Garden.
“It’s a huge night. Just being from the birthplace of Martin Luther King, how you just wanted to represent and have a great night, just to celebrate what he’s done for all of us,” Wilkins said. “So that was, that was out there.”
When basketball is at its best, it connects people — players on the court, fans with their team, even entire cities. Martin Luther King Jr. understood that power of connection — and he loved to play the game. He was known to get on the court with young men and play pick-up as a way connect with them on one level so he could open the door to talk about so many things bigger than basketball. (You can learn more about that in an upcoming documentary on Hulu called Hoops, Hopes & Dreams.)
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The NBA also understands the power of connection, too, which is why for 40 years the league has celebrated Martin Luther King Day with a slate of its best players and teams. This year, those games are on NBC and Peacock all day Monday, starting in the birthplace of King himself — Atlanta. The four games are:
• Milwaukee at Atlanta, 1 p.m. ET (Peacock, NBCSN)
• Oklahoma City at Cleveland, 2:30 p.m. ET (NBC, Peacock)
• Dallas at New York, 5 p.m. ET (NBC, Peacock)
• Boston at Detroit, 8 p.m. ET (NBC, Peacock)
Players will be wearing special Martin Luther King Jr. Day T-shirts during warmups….
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/dominique-wilkins-reflects-first-mlk-165115777.html
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Publish date : 2026-01-16 16:51:00
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