Happy 72nd Birthday, Jamaal Wilkes

Cover photo: Jamaal Wilkes shoots a jump shot over the Seattle SuperSonics’ Leonard Gray in 1975. Photo credit 1975 Focus on Sport.

An NBA legend celebrates his birthday on May 2 as Hall of Fame forward Jamaal Wilkes turn 72. 

Born in Berkeley, Calif., Jackson Keith Wilkes was an All-American at Santa Barbara High School. He is the most accomplished of only three from his high school to play in the NBA - Vic Bartolome and Don Ford being the others. 

Wilkes attended UCLA and played under the legendary John Wooden. As a Bruin, Wilkes was a two-time consensus 1st team All-American as well as a three-time academic All-American. With Wilkes, Bill Walton and future NBA center Swen Nater, the Bruins went to three Final Fours and won two consecutive national championships, in Wilkes’ sophomore and junior seasons (1972, 1973). The Bruins defeated Florida State in the national championship game in 1972 and defeated Memphis in the title game in 1973. Nine-year veteran NBA guard Henry Bibby was a senior on the ‘72 title team. Wilkes played 90 collegiate games and averaged 15.0 points and 7.4 rebounds (51.4%). As a senior, he averaged 16.7 points and 6.6 rebounds on 49.1% shooting. He was named to the NCAA All-Tournament team, NCAA All-Region and was twice named All-Pac 12. 

In the 1974 NBA Draft, Wilkes was chosen 11th overall by the Golden State Warriors, part of a draft that also included Hall of Famers Walton, George Gervin, and Bobby Jones. Future all-stars Maurice Lucas, Billy Knight, Brian Winters, Truck Robinson, Camby Russell, Phil Smith, Scott Wedman, and John Drew were also selected. Wilkes changed his name after his professional career began to Jamaal Abdul-Lateef, but went by the last name Wilkes throughout his career. 

He played all 82 games as a rookie for the Warriors and averaged 14.2 points and 8.2 rebounds on 44.2% shooting in 30.7 minutes. For his efforts, he was named the NBA Rookie of the Year in 1975. The team, led by superstar and future Hall of Fame forward Rick Barry (30.6 points, 6.2 assists, 5.7 rebounds, 2.9 steals, 46.4%) won 48 games and swept the Washington Bullets in the ‘75 Finals. The highest scoring output for Wilkes in his rookie season came on March 16, 1975 when he scored 31 points with 10 rebounds (14-for-28) in 37 minutes in a 111-95 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers as the Warriors were playing without Barry. 

Wilkes made his first of three all-star games in 1975-76 while also being named to the All-Defensive 2nd team, an honor he would also garner the following season. Wilkes upped his average to 17.8 points (8.8 rebounds) in his sophomore NBA campaign of ‘75-‘76, playing all 82 games (33.1 minutes) and with his shots increased to 16 per game (46.3%). 

In his third season, which was his last as a Warrior, Wilkes played 76 games (33.9 minutes) and averaged 17.7 points and 7.6 rebounds per game and shot 47.8% on 15 shots per game. 

On July 13, 1977, Wilkes signed with the Los Angeles Lakers, who were coming off a 52-win season under head coach Jerry West and a Western Conference Finals appearance. 

Playing back at home. Wilkes averaged 12.9 points in 29.2 minutes on 44% shooting in 1977-78, before going on a five-year run of averaging over 18 points per game. 

Wilkes averaged 18.6 points and 7.4 rebounds in 1978-79, playing in all 82 games and, to that point in his career, a career-high 35.5 minutes per game. He shot 15 times a game for 50.4% from the field. 

Wilkes scored a season-high 31 points (14-for-20 shooting) with 9 rebounds, 3 steals, and 2 blocks on March 2, 1979 in a 126-111 home win vs. the Philadelphia 76ers, and had double-doubles in the playoffs of 26 points and 13 rebounds and 23 points and 10 rebounds. 

The following season, Wilkes played in all 82 games for the second consecutive season and fourth time in his career. Averaging 37.9 minutes per game and shooting nearly 17 shots per game, Wilkes made 53.5% of his field-goals and began his first season of three consecutive with 20 points per game as he averaged 20.0 points and 6.4 rebounds. 

In Game 6 of the ‘80 Finals against the 76ers - a game famous for Magic Johnson’s 42-15-7 line as a rookie filling in for Kareem Abdul-Jabbar - Wilkes provided his point guard with an exceptional sidekick. Wilkes played 42 minutes and took a game-high 30 shots, hitting 16 of them and scoring 37 points with 10 rebounds. Together, he and Magic combined for 79 points and 25 rebounds in the Lakers’ 123-107 win. It was the Lakers’ seventh championship in franchise history. 

Wilkes was an all-star for the second time in 1980-81. He played 81 games, saw 37.4 minutes per game and averaged a career-high 22.6 points on a career-high 19 shots, connecting on 52.6%. The Lakers won 54 games that season under Paul Westhead, and Wilkes finished 10th in MVP voting. 

The following season of 1981-82, Wilkes averaged 21.1 points on 17 shots (52.5%) in 35.4 minutes per game in 82 games. The Lakers defeated the 76ers in six games in the Finals, with Wilkes contributing 24 points and 10 rebounds in Game 1, 24 points and 4 assists in Game 4, and 27 points and 5 rebounds (43 minutes) in the clinching sixth game, a 114-104 Laker victory. 

The final all-star appearance for Wilkes came in the 1982-83 season when he averaged 19.6 points and 4.3 rebounds in 80 games (53% shooting on 16 shots) in 31.9 minutes per game. Wilkes scored 20 points or more eight times in the Lakers’ 1983 playoff run that concluded with a 4-0 loss to the 76ers. In Game 3 of the Lakers’ first round series against the Trail Blazers, Wilkes scored 28 points with 9 rebounds, 5 assists, and 5 steals. He scored 26, 25, and 27 points in Games 3, 4, and 5 of the Lakers’ second round series against the San Antonio Spurs, and scored 20 and 21 points on a combined 19-of-40 shooting in Games 3 and 4 of the Finals, a series that the Lakers lost 4-0 in a rematch with the 76ers. 

For the 1983-84 campaign, Wilkes played 75 games (74 starts) and averaged 17.3 points and 4.5 rebounds on 51.4% shooting (14 shots, 33.4 minutes). 

In Wilkes’ final Laker season, 1984-85, he played 42 games with eight starts before tearing his knee on February 1, 1985. In the game, Wilkes collided with Knicks’ forward Ernie Grunfeld and subsequently missed the remainder of the season. Just two nights prior to the injury, Wilkes scored 24 points in 27 minutes on 11-for-14 shooting in a 122-106 victory at Portland. For the season, Wilkes averaged 8.3 points on 7 shots per game (48.8%). The Lakers defeated the Boston Celtics 4-2 in that year’s Finals, with Abdul-Jabbar winning Finals MVP.

On September 27, 1985, Wilkes signed with the Los Angeles Clippers and rejoined his former Laker teammate Norm Nixon. Wilkes played in 13 games as a Clipper with one start. In his second game with the franchise, on October 26, 1985, he made 6-of-10 shots for 15 points in 27 minutes in a 130-129 double-overtime victory against the Houston Rockets. Three nights later in the Clippers’ next game on October 29, he scored 10 points on 4-for-6 shooting in 22 minutes in a 119-113 win over Portland. He played his final NBA game on December 21, 1985.  

A rangy forward with an unorthodox, behind-the-head shooting form, “Silk” in 12 seasons averaged 17.7 points and 6.2 rebounds, in a career in which he played in 828 games and started 491. He played an average of 32.9 minutes in his career and, on an average of 15 shots, shot 50% from the field. As a Laker, he started 408 of 575 games and averaged 18.4 points and 5.4 rebounds per game on 51.6% shooting. Wilkes also posted individual game career-highs of 19 rebounds, 10 assists and 7 steals. 

Wilkes was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame class of 2012, and had his jersey retired by the Lakers on December 8, 2012. 

Happy 72nd, Jamaal Wilkes.