When you think of the NBA in the 1980s, the first names that probably pop into your mind are Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Julius Erving.

But one name that you might forget about—Dominique Wilkins.

Unlike those other guys, Wilkins never won a championship in the 80s and in fact, he never won a championship during his entire 15-year NBA career.   

However, ‘Nique was truly special to watch whether he was flying through the air for one of his many spectacular dunks or dropping 47 points on Bird’s Boston Celtics. He possessed the ability to wow the crowd every time he stepped foot onto the hardwood.

Wilkins is perhaps the most underrated player in NBA history.

He currently ranks 10th in all-time in scoring with 26,668 points and averaged nearly 25 points for his career, but a lot of newer fans don’t know very much about him.

Wow, 25 points per game?

That’s just five points less than Michael Jordan’s career scoring average.

Another impressive stat: Wilkins is one of only six players in NBA history to average at least 25 ppg for ten consecutive seasons. The others are Jerry West, Jordan, Karl Malone, Shaquille O’Neal, and Allen Iverson.

That’s pretty good company.

Wilkins wasn’t only an underrated scorer, he also never gets the credit that he deserves when it comes to dunking.

Sure, most people would say that he’s the third-greatest dunker behind Vince Carter and Jordan, but I’ve always believed that he is hands down the best we’ve ever seen.

Nothing against Carter and Jordan, but Wilkins just brought something a little better to the table.