Damien Wilkins
Damien Wilkins | |
|---|---|
| Born | January 11, 1980 |
| Occupation(s) | Basketball player, executive |
| Years active | 2004–2018 (player) |
| Known for | Former NBA player, General Manager and Head of Basketball for Overtime Elite |
Damien Lamont Wilkins (born January 11, 1980) is a former American professional basketball player and executive who competed in the National Basketball Association for ten seasons. He is the son of Gerald Wilkins, a retired NBA player with a 13-year career, and the nephew of Dominique Wilkins, a nine-time NBA All-Star and Hall of Fame inductee.
College career
Following his graduation from Dr. Phillips High School in Orlando, Florida, Wilkins began his collegiate basketball journey at North Carolina State University. After two years of promising play in the NCAA, he initially declared for the 2001 NBA draft but later withdrew to transfer to University of Georgia. At Georgia, he completed two steady but unremarkable seasons before going undrafted in 2004.
Professional career
Wilkins' commitment to strength training paid off during summer league and preseason, securing him a spot on the Seattle Sonics roster. On March 24, 2005, he posted 21 points late in his rookie year. Due to injuries on the team, he started seven games and made a notable impact in the 2005 NBA Playoffs, delivering 15 points, six rebounds, and five steals in a crucial Game 4 victory. As a restricted free agent in the summer of 2005, Wilkins attracted an offer from the Minnesota Timberwolves, which the Sonics matched to retain him.
Following the trades of Rashard Lewis and Ray Allen in 2007, Wilkins earned a starting role. He achieved a personal best of 41 points along with nine rebounds against the Atlanta Hawks on November 16, 2007.
On July 27, 2009, Wilkins was traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves together with Chucky Atkins in exchange for center Etan Thomas and two second-round draft selections. The Memphis Grizzlies signed him on September 28, 2010, but he was released after training camp.
Wilkins joined the Atlanta Hawks on December 3, 2010, as a replacement following an injury to Joe Johnson, though he was waived after about a month. He re-signed with Atlanta on January 8, 2011, under a 10-day contract and secured a deal for the remainder of that season on January 28.
During the 2011–12 campaign, Wilkins played with the Detroit Pistons. In September 2012, he signed with the Philadelphia 76ers.
Wilkins participated in Atlanta Hawks' training camp again in September 2013 but was released in October. Later that year in December, he signed with China's Beijing Ducks and made his debut by scoring 10 points contributing to their victory over Liaoning.
On May 1, 2014, he inked a deal to finish out the BSN season with Puerto Rico's Indios de Mayagüez.
The Iowa Energy selected Wilkins as the 16th pick in the 2014 NBA Development League draft. He earned Futures All-Star recognition in February 2015 and returned to Indios de Mayagüez that April.
Though initially contracted with a Venezuelan team for the 2015–16 season, Wilkins returned to the NBA after an injury sidelined Michael Kidd-Gilchrist of the Charlotte Hornets. He signed a non-guaranteed training camp contract on October 5, 2015, officially joining on October 16 but was waived one week later following three preseason appearances. Shortly thereafter, he signed with Venezuela's Guaros de Lara.
On October 31, 2016, Wilkins became part of the Greensboro Swarm roster in the NBA Development League.
In April of 2017, he signed with Puerto Rico’s Brujos de Guayama.
Wilkins reentered the NBA by signing with the Indiana Pacers on August 15, 2017. He was waived on January 7, 2018, then returned to play for Greensboro Swarm on February 1.
National team career
Wilkins competed for the United States national team during the 2015 Pan American Games, where he contributed to winning the bronze medal.
Regular season
|- | align="left" | | align="left" | Seattle | 29 || 7 || 17.9 || .435 || .271 || .618 || 2.3 || 0.9 || 0.8 || 0.3 || 6.3 |- | align="left" | | align="left" | Seattle | style="background:#cfecec;"| 82* || 12 || 18.6 || .444 || .250 || .840 || 2.3 || 1.3 || 0.9 || 0.1 || 6.5 |- | align="left" | | align="left" | Seattle | style="background:#cfecec;"| 82* || 31 || 24.8 || .435 || .410 || .882 || 2.8 || 1.9 || 1.1 || 0.2 || 8.8 |- | align="left" | | align="left" | Seattle | 76 || 31 || 24.3 || .403 || .323 || .736 || 3.2 || 2.0 || 0.8 || 0.3 || 9.2 |- | align="left" | | align="left" | Oklahoma City | 41 || 14 || 15.5 || .362 || .375 || .804 || 1.7 || 0.9 || 0.5 || 0.2 || 5.3 |- | align="left" | | align="left" | Minnesota | 80 || 31 || 19.8 || .433 || .295 || .798 || 3.1 || 1.7 || 0.8 || 0.3|| 5.6 |- | align="left" | | align="left" | Atlanta | 52||0||13.0|| .504|| .200|| .714||1.7||0.8||0.5||0.2||3.5 |- | align="left" | | align="left" | Detroit |60||2||15.4|| .394|| .304|| .630||1.7||0.7||0.5||0.2||3.2 |- | align="left" | | align="left" | Philadelphia |61||21||18.0|| .459|| .333|| .743||1.7||1.5||0.6|| 0.3||6.4 |- | align="left" | | align="left" | Indiana |19||1||8.0|| .333|| .222|| .750||0.8||0.5||0.1||0.1||1.7 |- class="sortbottom" | style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"| Career |582||150||18.9|| .426|| .327|| .783||2.3||1.4||0.7||0.2||6.2
Playoffs
|- | align="left" | 2005 | align="left" | Seattle |7||0||19.4|| .444|| 0.273|| 0.444|| 0.26|| 0.4||| 0.4||| 0.56 |- |- |align= "left"|2011 |- |align= "left"|2010–11 Atlanta Hawks season#Playoffs |- |8|||0|||4,9|||.538,|||.000,|||.000,|||,1,|||,0,|||,3,|||,3,|||,18 |- class= "sortbottom" |- |style= "text-align:center;" colspan= "2"| Career |- |15|||0|||11,7|||,469,|||,231,|||,444,|||,7,|||,3,|||,8,|||,2,|||,35
Personal life
Wilkins is the son of former NBA player Gerald Wilkins, who had a career spanning thirteen seasons, and he is also the nephew of nine-time NBA All-Star Dominique Wilkins. Additionally, Isaiah Wilkins—Dominique's stepson—has pursued professional basketball.
Since September 2022, Wilkins has been appointed as General Manager and Head of Basketball for Overtime Elite, an emerging league focused on player development.