By Steve Alexander —————— When my buddy, Steve Klebe, texted me that NBA Hall of Famer, Dominique Wilkins, was at 7Pie on Sunday, I quickly gathered my thoughts and stuff, thinking that this was the moment I had been waiting for for 42 years.
You see, Dominique and I have a long history, as he gave me a pair of his game-worn shoes way back in 1984 when we were headed through Atlanta to the beach for spring break on the way from Indiana. And that transaction stemmed from a stolen phone number, an awkward couple of phone calls, and a strange road trip.
I gathered an interesting collection of shoes as a kid and still have about 30 pairs of NBA game-worn shoes from stars of the ‘80s. After trying to get Nique’s shoes for a couple of seasons in Indiana, I decided to take things into my own hands. A friend of mine ‘borrowed’ Dominique’s phone number out of her dad’s rolodex, as he was an NBA photographer and had a lot of players’ numbers.
I’m still not sure how I did it, but I gathered the courage to call Wilkins at home, told him that I was ‘Steve from Indiana,’ that I wanted his shoes, and the day and the date of the game. Once I finally stopped talking, he said to meet him in the third-floor parking garage at the Omni a couple hours before the game that day.
I showed up, he hooked me up with the shoes, and I still have them, autographed, 42 years later. And then the text came in on Sunday: ‘Dominique’s at 7Pie.’ I have questions for him, like ‘why did you never ask me how I got your number?’ and ‘why did you agree to give me your shoes?’
So I flew home, gathered up the shoes and hit the road, headed for 7Pie, having no idea what to expect when I got there. I left the shoes in the car and went in, and Wilkins was there, chatting with the owner and friends, and then I saw an opening, and went in.
Me: “Nique, you got time for a quick story or you talking business?”
Nique: “Man, I would love to hear a good story right now.”
Me: “Wait, I got props” and went out to get the shoes.
Dominique and his friends were blown away by the sight of the shoes and at one point I didn’t think he was going to give them back to me. I said “You can have them, they’re really yours,” and he replied with something like “I gave these to you, man, they’re yours.” (and maybe whispered something like ‘they’re probably worth a lot of money.’)
I re-told him the entire story, we both joked about the fact it happened 42 years ago, and his friends and family laughed and took pictures with us and the shoes. They were all blown away.
I’ve met Dominique several times, but had never caught him in a situation where I could tell him the whole story. So when I heard he was sitting at 7Pie, it was on. It was an incredible day, I called my wife, Casey, and told her that I probably “just made Dominique’s weekend,” and she was like, "settle down, big boy." Then I got a notification that Nique had published a story on his Instagram feed about me, the shoes, our day and what it meant to him, and I knew I wasn’t crazy.
While I was actually more like 15 years old and it was 1984, here’s what he wrote:
“Back in 1985, after the All-Star Game… a 9-year-old kid walked up to me and asked for my sneakers.
I told him, “Wait for me after the game and they’re yours.”
Sure enough, after the game ended, he waited. I took those sneakers off, signed them, and handed them to him. A simple moment to me… but clearly a moment that stayed with him forever.
Fast forward to today… full circle.
I walk into 7Pie Pizza in Dahlonega, Georgia, and that same kid — now a grown man named Steven—shows up carrying those exact sneakers and retelling the story word for word.
Man… talk about a memory lane moment.
You never really know how one small act of kindness can stay with someone for a lifetime. Seeing those shoes again after all these years reminded me that some moments in life are bigger than basketball.”— Dominique Wilkins via Instagram.
I went there hoping to see Dominique and tell him the full story about how I came into possession of his shoes. I left with the feeling that I had made his weekend, and knowing he’d made mine. He’s my favorite player of all time for a reason and that day at 7Pie was the best time I’ve had since Johnny B’s closed (#RIP). And it’s not close.
Steve Alexander is a former Dahlonega Nugget writer who currently works at Achasta while producing sports content for ESPN and sportsethos.com