Illinois State's big man waited for his NBA shot. Drafted in the second round by San Antonio in 1977 but waived before the season, Wilkins put in time with the CBA's Hawaii Volcanos before the Utah Jazz signed him in 1980. He spent nearly all of his NBA career in Utah, six seasons at 7.9 points and 5.7 rebounds a game, until a mid-season trade returned him to the Spurs for his 1986 finish.
Later he won a Turkish league championship with Efes Pilsen. His sons followed him into the game: John has played professionally across Africa and Europe, and Johnathon played at New Mexico State and then in France.
HOW HE CAME & WENTSan Antonio drafted him 37th overall in 1977 and cut him before the season. He spent three years in Italy, Turkey and the CBA, signed with Utah in December 1980, and was traded back to San Antonio in February 1986 for Marc Iavaroni and Jeff Cook.
No photograph of this signature is online yet.
| SEASON | TEAM | G | MPG | PPG | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980–81 | UTA | 56 | 18.9 | 4.7 | 4.9 | 0.7 | 0.6 | 0.8 | .450 | — | .675 |
| 1981–82 | UTA | 82 | 27.7 | 9.3 | 7.5 | 1.1 | 0.4 | 0.9 | .437 | .000 | .778 |
| 1982–83 | UTA | 81 | 28.5 | 11.5 | 7.4 | 1.6 | 0.5 | 0.5 | .477 | .000 | .780 |
| 1983–84 | UTA | 81 | 21.4 | 7.8 | 5.6 | 0.9 | 0.3 | 0.5 | .479 | .000 | .736 |
| 1984–85 | UTA | 79 | 19.1 | 8.0 | 4.6 | 1.0 | 0.4 | 0.2 | .490 | .000 | .763 |
| 1985–86 | UTA | 48 | 12.6 | 4.6 | 3.0 | 0.6 | 0.1 | 0.2 | .400 | — | .638 |
| JAZZ TOTAL | 6 SEASONS | 427 | 22.2 | 8.1 | 5.7 | 1.0 | 0.4 | 0.6 | .462 | .000 | .752 |
Season by season, regular season, with this franchise only. More info: Basketball-Reference ↗ · Wikipedia ↗