Former NBA Star Gerald Wilkins, Brother Of Dominique, Arrested On Assault Charges
Gerald Wilkins — a veteran of 13 seasons in the National Basketball Association and the younger brother of Hall of Famer Dominique Wilkins — is behind bars in Cobb County, Georgia. Per a June 11 report by WGCL-TV/CBS 46 in Atlanta, the 56-year-old was arrested as a result of an assault that occurred at his place of employment.
According to the report, Wilkins allegedly threw an object at a colleague on June 9 and chased the same individual in a threatening manner with a screwdriver. Wilkins reportedly left the scene in his car following the incident. He has been charged with simple battery, theft by taking, as well as aggravated assault.
Although he didn’t rise to the legendary status achieved by his older brother — who was a nine-time All-Star, an NBA scoring champion and two-time winner of the Slam Dunk Contest — the 6-foot-6 Wilkins was one of the league’s better wing players for several years during the 1980s and early ’90s.
He is perhaps best remembered for a seven-year stint with the New York Knicks, the team that drafted him in the second round of the 1985 NBA Draft. In 555 games played in a Knicks uniform (480 of which he started), Wilkins averaged just under 15 points, four assists, and three rebounds per game, and he played a key role in five Knicks playoff runs.
After signing a free agent deal with the Cleveland Cavaliers in 1992, he spent two years with the team before injuries forced him to sit out the entirety of the 1994-95 season. He later returned to play one season with the expansion Vancouver Grizzlies, after which he spent three seasons with the Orlando Magic before ending his playing career in 1999 at the age of 35.
According to the CBS 46, the June 9 incident was Wilkins’ third brush with the law in just less than two weeks. He was also charged with criminal trespassing and hindering law enforcement for a domestic incident that occurred on June 6, in which he was alleged to have barricaded himself in the victim’s bedroom. Police later said that they had to break into the room, where they subsequently found that Wilkins had poured out an accelerant and disabled the smoke alarm.
Meanwhile, he faces a simple assault charge as a result of a May 31 incident in which he attempted to force his way into another woman’s home and also pushed her during the altercation.
As shared by The Inquisitr earlier this month, Wilkins isn’t the only retired star athlete to get hit with assault charges recently. On June 4, former MLB star Carl Crawford was arrested on charges of domestic violence.
