Hall of Famer Dominique Wilkins recently appeared on the NBA Inside Stuff ’90s Reunion, and told a hilarious story about joining the Los Angeles Clippers in 1994.
Wilkins, a nine-time NBA All-Star, explained how he was “pissed off” after being traded from the Atlanta Hawks (with whom he averaged 26.4 points over 12 seasons) to the Clippers in February 1994. And when he arrived in the Los Angeles locker room, he told a ball boy to go get him some socks. The “ball boy” turned out to be Randy Woods, a Clippers player.
Woods told Wilkins, “I ain’t no damn ball boy. I play on this team.”
“When I first got traded to the Clippers, you know, I’m pissed off because I got traded. I go in the locker room, I see this kid wearing a pair of Clippers shorts and long t-shirt. And again, I’m pissed off.
I said, ‘Hey ball boy, go get me some socks.’
He said, ‘I ain’t no damn ball boy. I play on this team.’
I didn’t know. It was Randy Woods. I never saw the kid play.”
An incredible story from Wilkins, and the reaction from all of the former NBA stars in that video made it even better.
Woods — a La Salle product — was the 16th overall pick by the Clippers in the 1992 NBA Draft, and went on to average 2.4 points per game over four NBA seasons. So, it’s understandable how a superstar who had been playing on the other side of the country may not be familiar with a second-year player on a Clippers team that was an NBA laughingstock (and Woods only averaged 1.7 points in his rookie season).
Wilkins only played 25 games– but averaged 29.1 points — for the Clippers in the 1993-94 season, and went on to sign with the Boston Celtics in the offseason.
[H/T: Pro Basketball Talk]
