Ball Don't Lie: Interview With Dominique Wilkins

Nick Friedell interviews Hawks VP of Basketball Dominique Wilkins.

Q: What do you expect to see from the Hawks this season?

Dominique Wilkins: I think this year they're a more experienced team because they've been through a playoff and got a taste of winning. So I think they're going to come in more focused ... I think we've got some better pieces to this team than we had last year. Hopefully, they can create some chemistry, kind of get (in) a flow early, because when you get new guys on a team, even though they're talented they don't have that chemistry with guys who have been there for a while. I think with this group of guys we've got some veteran people that can come in and kind of mesh, hopefully start winning games early in the season, because we've got to come out of the box early.

Q: Josh Childress went over to Greece, you actually played overseas, did you talk to him before he left?

DW: I didn't get the chance to talk to him. I don't think his people wanted him to talk to me. I would have told him, you might want to re-think that decision this early in your career. This early in your career you don't want to take risky moves. I played in Greece, basketball is great over there, but when you're talking about guaranteed contracts it don't mean nothing over there, it means absolutely nothing ... I just think when you're away from the NBA, it's that whole "out of sight, out of mind" (thinking)." So, I wish him luck but that's a risky move.

Q: Do you think it was the wrong move?

DW: I do, I do. Again a young guy coming in the league, who's been in the league 3-4 years and you get a nice offer from your (NBA) team but you take a chance on a few more dollars to go to Europe, I don't think it's a good move.

If this is a taste of what we're going to get on Hawks broadcasts this season, I'll miss Steve Smith even more than I expected.