The Highlight Film Is Now a Variety Show : Hawks’ Dominique Wilkins, NBA’s Dunk Master, Has Become a More Complete Player

There was a time when Dominique Wilkins seemed doomed to a career as a showboat who always docked when the time came to play for an NBA championship.

He was the dunk master, a shooter without conscience, the “Human Highlight Film.”

But this season, after proving last year that he could win a scoring championship while leading the Atlanta Hawks to 50 victories, Wilkins has found himself cast in a new light.

“I’ve worked hard to become more of an all-around player and it’s been well worth the wait,” Wilkins said. “It feels good that I don’t have to exert myself so much to score points. Since the team is doing well, I’m getting credit for being an all-around player.”

The Hawks have a better record this season than the Boston Celtics, Philadelphia 76ers and Milwaukee Bucks, who have won all the division titles in the Eastern Conference in the last six years.

Mike Fratello, the NBA’s Coach of the Year last season, said that when he came to the Hawks three years ago, he told Wilkins that he would always be known as a selfish player as long as the Hawks were a mediocre team.

“I sat down with Dominique and told him that his game would improve because he’s a hard worker and he listens,” Fratello said. “I said that as his game improved, the team would improve and would win more games.

“I said, ‘You have to win to gain the most recognition. To get stats and not win, people will say you don’t help the team. You help yourself, but not the team.’ ”

Fratello said two things had to happen--Wilkins had to grow as an individual and the team had to grow, “but the bottom line is that we must win. And that’s just what happened. As we’ve won, he’s gotten the recognition for being able to more things than just score.”

Fratello, asked to list the ways in which Wilkins has improved since he came into the league four years ago, said:

“He’s not even close to being the same player he was when he came into the game. His perimeter game is better, his ability to dribble, he’s better defensively, his shot selection is better and his basketball IQ is much, much higher. As a result, he’s an All-Star now and he wasn’t when he came in.”

With the fan voting winding down for the All-Star game in Seattle on Feb. 8, Wilkins appears likely to start for the first time, alongside Larry Bird at forward for the Eastern Conference.

His scoring average of 26 points is down from the 30 he compiled last season en route to the scoring title. But he is taking four fewer shots per game and his assist average is up from 2.6 to 3.9 per game.

Wilkins has conceded the scoring title this year to Chicago’s Michael Jordan, who is averaging more than 37 points, but he doesn’t seem to mind.

“I have a scoring title; now I can concentrate on winning games,” Wilkins said. “Besides, Michael is so far ahead there’s no need for anybody else to even think about winning a scoring title. But with the record we have (22 victories in Atlanta’s first 30 games), I don’t want to trade places with him.”

Despite Wilkins’ de-emphasis of point production, there have been times this season when the old scoring magic returned.

There were 39 points on opening night against New Jersey, 36 a day later against the 76ers and 38 in an emotional one-point victory over the Celtics on Nov. 22.

But no one who saw Wilkins outscore Jordan 57-41 in a 123-95 Atlanta victory on Dec. 10 will forget it.

“Michael is the kind of guy who inspires those he plays against,” Wilkins said. “We are good friends, so we talked before the game and that night I was ready. I wanted to show people I could still score when I want to. It was one of those games where I got it going and everything clicked.”

Wilkins, who was 19-for-28 from the field, many of them on breakaway dunks, said he got caught up in the game’s excitement.

“My teammates made me aware of how many points I had,” Wilkins said. “They’d say, ‘You got 50. You got 52.’ They wanted me to set the record (for most points at the Omni), but I just tied it. I admit that once I got 50, I wanted the record.

“It was a rare game to see two guys putting on a show like that. Both sides had a lot of fun.”

Paul Gilbert, who puts together spectacular plays during the season into NBA promotional features, said, “There were enough highlights in that game to make an entire commercial.”

Wilkins’ recent recognition as more than a one-dimensional player has left him secure in the knowledge that his image won’t be tarnished by a little showing-off.

Unlike Phoenix’s Larry Nance, who dropped out of the NBA’s slam-dunk contest in subsequent years after winning it in 1984, Wilkins looks forward to displaying his dunking and jumping ability on All-Star weekend.

“My game has changed so much in the last three years that I’m not known anymore as just a dunker,” Wilkins said. “But it’s still fun to do. I think it’s great for the league to have the contest.”

Last year’s slam-dunk winner, Hawks teammate Spud Webb is injured and won’t be back to defend the title, so Wilkins, the champion in 1985, is determined to keep the crown in Atlanta.

“We wanted to go out and be 1-2 again like last year,” Wilkins said. “We talked a lot about what we were going to do. I’m disappointed Spud won’t be there, as I’m sure everyone is.”

Although he became the cornerstone of the Hawks’ future from the moment he came into the NBA, Wilkins said he feels more pressure now because he’s the senior player on the team besides center Tree Rollins.

“We’re a young team now and there’s a demand for me to be a leader,” Wilkins said. “There’s always a lot of pressure when you’re the guy getting most of the publicity.”

Fortunately for Wilkins and Atlanta, most of that publicity has turned favorable.