Dominique Wilkins

After his year with the Spurs, Wilkins returned to Europe for the 1997-98 season, playing this time with Italy's Teamsystem Bologna. He returned to the United States in 1999, signing to play with the Orlando Magic, for which his younger brother, Gerald, also played. By season's end, however, both Wilkins brothers had been released by Orlando. For Dominique, it was the end of the road as a player. When he left the game, he ranked eighth on the NBA's all-time scoring list with 26,668 points and 10th in career scoring with an average of 24.8 points per game.

For Wilkins, Atlanta was home. For 12 seasons, he had played for the Hawks, and it was to the Hawks that he returned after a brief interval away from basketball altogether. In October 2000, he was hired as assistant to the executive vice president of the Hawks. In October 2002 his responsibilities increased when he was made a special assistant in the area of player development. In announcing that Wilkins was rejoining the Hawks organization, the club's president, Stan Kasten, who was general manager when the team acquired Wilkins's rights from the Jazz in 1982, said: "There were times when I was mad at him and there were times when I was frustrated with him, but I always loved him. He's the kind of guy for whom you will always feel great affection."