WILKINS' GREEK TRAGEDY

August 1995

WILKINS' GREEK TRAGEDY

Graceful exits are rare gems. Few professional athletes walk off the court with their game, their following, and their dignity intact.

Future Hall-of-Famer Dominique Wilkins knows. He has been rudely stripped of his place among the NBA stars. Once a synonym for style, Wilkins has become the symbol of everything that's wrong with the Boston Celtics.

'Nique arrived in Boston to a hero's welcome, but now everyone from here to Pittsfield would love to give him the bum's rush.

It has been a humbling crash landing for a man who has scored 25,389 career points, eighth all-time in the NBA.

But out of nowhere, there appeared to be a way out.

An American tragedy suddenly showed signs of becoming a Greek revival, depending entirely on the credibility of blustery owner Paul Giannakopoulos, who talks a big game and carries a big wallet.

While Wilkins was vacationing in Athens, he saw Giannakopoulos, who tried unsuccessfully last summer to lure 'Nique overseas to play for his team, Panathianakos. In the most recent encounter, the owner re-professed his love for the Human Highlight Film, either oblivious or uninterested in the fact that the film must be spliced these days to edit the nasty floor-bound footage.

After Wilkins went home, Giannakopoulos announced to Greek reporters Wilkins was "miserable" in Boston, and that he had offered him a lucrative contract to play for his team.

The fact no such offer was ever made was beside the point. With a new arena to fill, Giannakopoulos needed to generate excitement, and, it's hoped, some new season ticket-holders (an aside: this scenario should sound vaguely familiar to Boston fans). Wilkins was a tantalizing draw, even in the abstract.

But there were two things Giannakopoulos didn't count on: No. 1, that Wilkins might be interested; and No. 2, because of the NBA lockout, it also might be possible.

League sources said earlier this week the Celtics would be powerless to stop Wilkins from flying to Greece tomorrow while the lockout is in effect. When and if the lockout ends, it would be a different story. Of course, with the Celtics clearly disappointed in Wilkins' performance last season (see the unprotected list for the expansion teams), how hard would they press to have him come back?

Meanwhile, Wilkins' agent, Steve Kauffman, has been talking about suing for breach of contract, since, because of the lockout, Boston will not advance Wilkins an $8.4 million loan stipulated in his contract.

Perfect. Wilkins uses a legal loophole to slip out of town under the guise of an opportunity he could not refuse, and the Celtics wave goodbye with the appropriate "we wish him well" rhetoric.

Too bad it's not going to happen.

John Tarkas places Kauffman's clients for him in Greece and has been handling communication with Giannakopolous. After Giannakopolous said he had made 'Nique an offer, Tarkas fired off a fax asking for clarification of his interest in Wilkins.

The silence has been deafening.

"Paul enjoys taking up space in the newspapers," Tarkas said yesterday. "He has everyone all worked up about Dominique. But is he serious enough to pay the money? We still do not have a formal offer."

Tarkas, who spent time with Wilkins on his recent vacation in Greece, is certain of one thing: 'Nique wants a change of scenery.

"I know he's unhappy in Boston," Tarkas said. "I was there last year at his worst time, during the Clipper game, and I saw how they treated him. How they booed him. The impression he gave me is he'd welcome a change."

The change in Greece would have enabled Wilkins to be treated like a future Hall-of-Famer again. It would have meant playing 50-55 games at the most, having weekends at home, and road trips that are usually not more than a 40-minute plane ride.

However, the change also would have meant landing at another venue where loyalties are fickle, and heroes fade quickly, where unhappy fans who feel betrayed throw coins, batteries, even chunks of the kitchen sink.

Could 'Nique absorb porcelain chips better than Beantown boos? Alas, say our overseas spies, it is a moot point.

A Panathianakos team official, who wished to remain anonymous, said yesterday his club will not pursue Wilkins. "It was all talk," said the source. "Nothing more."

That means your fading Hall-of-Famer will be wearing No. 12 in your Boston program next season, working to fend off negative public opinion of his disappointing Celtic tenure.

That's too bad. What Dominique Wilkins should be doing is winding down his illustrious career in Atlanta, where they remember and appreciate his days of glory, and gently accept the faults of age, and time.

Boston fans have already done that -- too many times. DJ, then Larry, then Kevin limped to retirement as imperfect mortals, but they were immortal in green once, with the championship rings to prove it.

Wilkins has no titles; only a fat contract that has made him miserable, and a blustery owner an ocean away who talks only in dreams, not in reality.