Jamaal Abdul-Lateef (born Jackson Keith Wilkes, May 2, 1953), better known as Jamaal Wilkes, is an American former basketball player who was a small forward in the National Basketball Association (NBA). A three-time NBA All-Star, he won four NBA championships with the Golden State Warriors and Los Angeles Lakers. Nicknamed "Silk", he was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
Wilkes played college basketball for the UCLA Bruins. He was a two-time consensus first-team All-American and won two NCAA championships under coach John Wooden. He was selected in the first round of the 1974 NBA draft by Golden State. In his first season with the Warriors, he was named the NBA Rookie of the Year and helped the team win a league title. Wilkes won three more NBA championships with the Lakers during their Showtime era. He briefly played with the Los Angeles Clippers before retiring from playing. His jersey No. 52 was retired by both the Bruins and the Lakers.
Wilkes played the titular role of Cornbread in the 1975 coming-of-age feature film Cornbread, Earl and Me.
Early life
Jackson Keith Wilkes was born in Berkeley, California. He was one of five children of L. Leander Wilkes, a Baptist minister, and Thelma (Benson) Wilkes. At the time, his parents had two daughters. Their oldest son died of crib death at 13 months when Thelma was four months pregnant with Wilkes. The death led Leander, who worked at the Oakland Naval Base, to enter the ministry.
Because he did not like the nickname Jackie, Wilkes went by Keith. His family had brief stays in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, and Dayton, Ohio, before he grew up in Ventura, California, Wilkes attended Washington Elementary School and Cabrillo Middle School. He skipped the fifth grade. His older sister Naomi skipped two grades. A tomboy, she played basketball and helped Wilkes learn the game. His decision to move was controversial, but his Ventura coach, Bob Swanson, supported him. "If he was my kid I would have done the same thing", said Swanson. "He was a 16-year-old kid. He belonged with his family."
Starring for Santa Barbara High School with fellow future NBA player Don Ford, Wilkes led the Dons to 26 consecutive wins, and reached the playoff semifinals during the 1969–70 season. Wilkes was voted the California Interscholastic Federation Class AAAA Player of the Year by the Helms Foundation. Scholastic Magazines, and Sunkist–Coach and Athlete.
College career
In his first year at the University of California, Los Angeles, Wilkes averaged a team-high 20.0 points per game on their freshman team, who went 20–0 and outscored their opponents by almost 39 points per game. The squad included Greg Lee (17.9) and Bill Walton (18.1, 16 rebounds, 68.6 field goal percentage). A group of UCLA students typically watched the freshman practice at Pauley Pavilion. One day, one of the regulars, UCLA band member Oliver Trigg, was impressed by a move that Wilkes made. At dinner, he came up to the team, which was eating dinner together at the dormitory dining hall, and gushed that Wilkes' move was "smooth as silk". The players started teasing Wilkes and calling him "Silk". Departed from that team were Sidney Wicks, Curtis Rowe, and Steve Patterson, who won three straight NCAA titles together. Wilkes and fellow sophomores Walton and Lee entered the starting lineup, joining the only returning starter, Henry Bibby, and Larry Farmer. The Bruins scored over 100 points in their first seven games, en route to a perfect 30–0 season, winning by an average of 30.3 points per game. and was a second-team All-Pacific-8 selection. In a close title game, UCLA won 81–76 over Florida State. The Seminoles' Reggie Royals was assigned to defend Wilkes but was asked to drop back to help guard Walton. Wilkes had a season-high 23 points on 11-of-16 shooting and added 10 rebounds, while Walton earned the first of his two Final Four Most Outstanding Players with 24 points and 20 rebounds. They were both named to the all-tournament team. when UCLA again finished 30–0. The only other teammate scoring in double figures, Wilkes had 16 points along with seven rebounds. Wilkes ended his senior year with a career-high 16.7 points per game,
In three years, Wilkes' teams compiled an 86–4 record, averaging 15.0 points and 7.4 rebounds per game with a field goal percentage of 51.4. A three-time first-team Academic All-American (1972–1974), Prior to his first season in 1974–75, few people had championship expectations for the Warriors. replacing incumbent Derrek Dickey. Paired with Rick Barry at small forward, and was also second on the team in rebounding with 8.2 per game. The following season in 1975–76, he was named to his first NBA All-Star Game. Wilkes' scoring average improved to 17.8 in the regular season and 15.9 in the postseason,
After three years with Golden State, averaging 16.5 points and 8.2 rebounds per game, Wilkes signed with the Los Angeles Lakers as a free agent. Vertlieb denied making such an agreement. He was upset that some Bay Area sportswriters portrayed him as a deserter for playing out his option and signing with their in-state Pacific Division rival. Wilkes' career with the Lakers began solidly in 1977–78, and Lakers fans thought he was overrated. He re-signed to a reported long-term deal at $600,000 per year. but was overshadowed by the rookie Johnson, who started at center in place of an injured Abdul-Jabbar and finished with 42 points, 15 rebounds, and seven assists. "Jamaal Wilkes had an unbelievable game", said Johnson in 2011. "Everybody talked about my 42 [points], but it was also his [37-point effort]."
Wilkes had his best offensive season in 1980–81, when he averaged 22.6 points, which ranked 11th in the NBA, shot 52.6% and played in the 1981 NBA All-Star Game. However, the Lakers were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs by Houston in a best-of-three series. In 1982, Wilkes signed a long-term contract extension with the Lakers. They selected James Worthy with the first overall pick of the 1982 NBA draft, which they acquired from a trade made three years before. Although Wilkes was still in his prime, Wilkes received his third All-Star selection in 1983.
In 1983–84, Wilkes missed seven regular season games and the first seven games of the playoffs due to a gastrointestinal virus. In the five previous seasons since 1978–79, he had missed just three games out of 410 and twice led the team in minutes played. Wilkes finished the regular season averaging 17.3 points, and led the team in scoring 18 times, but none after February 28, as the infection began taking its toll. Upon returning in the playoffs on May 8 against Dallas, Wilkes received a standing ovation from the Forum crowd. Out of shape after the layoff, he saw limited play and averaged only 4.5 points in 14 games while shooting just 40%. He had entered the postseason with a streak of 58 consecutive games scoring 10+ points in the playoffs.
Wilkes' leg atrophied, and he had to learn to walk again. with three years and $2.4 million remaining on his guaranteed contract. The team attributed the move to the NBA salary cap, freeing him to negotiate with any team without his Lakers' salary affecting that team. On December 24, Wilkes shocked the Clippers by announcing his retirement after a 12-year career, noting his lack of contributions to the team. Most of his baskets came on mid-range jump shots.
Wilkes had an unorthodox but reliable jump shot, releasing the ball with a patent corkscrew motion behind his ear and over his head that resembled a slingshot. delaying release of the ball to avoid it being blocked. Wooden said that he would not have encouraged that form, but Wilkes consistently made his shots, so the coach left it alone. He worked out with Nautilus equipment. He was not muscular, but Wooden said he was strong and never injured in college. — prioritized winning over individual accolades. Wilkes enjoyed his best NBA seasons with the Lakers,
According to the Los Angeles Times, Wilkes' "Silk" nickname "may be one of the most appropriate in sports". They wrote that "Wilkes' problem, from a public relations standpoint, may be that he makes everything look too easy". are arguably more synonymous with Showtime, with Wilkes sometimes forgotten. In 2012, almost three decades since he last played in the NBA, when he was presented by former teammates Walton, Barry, Abdul-Jabbar and Johnson—each Hall of Famers. His number was retired by both Ventura and Santa Barbara High School.
In multiple interviews, including one with the New York Post in 1985, Wooden was asked to describe his ideal player: "I would have the player be a good student, polite, courteous, a good team player, a good defensive player and rebounder, a good inside player and outside shooter. Why not just take Jamaal Wilkes and let it go at that." The Los Angeles Times called Wooden's praise "probably the greatest honor any player could receive". He made a guest appearance on an episode of the television program Trapper John, M.D. in 1981. He was a co-author of the book Success Under Fire: Lessons For Being Your Best In Crunch Time. In 2003, he co-founded Jamaal Wilkes Financial Advisors, a firm specializing in wealth management. He co-authored his autobiography, Smooth as Silk: Memoirs of the Original, which released in 2015.
Wilkes was hired as vice president of basketball operations by the Los Angeles Stars for the inaugural season of the new American Basketball Association (ABA) in 2000. At Wilkes' request, Wooden also joined the Stars as a consultant.
Personal life
Wilkes and his first wife had a daughter who was born in 1977 with a hole in her heart and weighing just . During that period, Wilkes separated from his wife and filed for a divorce, ending their two-year marriage. He was also in a paternity suit that year, but was judged not to be the father. They had three more children—two sons and a daughter. graduated from the University of California, Berkeley, where he played basketball as shooting guard. He became a sports agent. His younger son, Jordan, who also graduated from Berkeley, played as a center. He joined the Lakers' basketball operations staff before the 2014–15 season.
Wilkes was involved with orthodox Islam for two years before converting, His parents were initially shocked and upset. but he continued to use his birth surname only for purposes of public recognition.
In December 1990, Wilkes was pulled over by Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) officers and handcuffed. A Black American, he accused them of racial profiling and filed a complaint. According to Wilkes, they said his license plate was about to expire and handcuffed him for 15–20 minutes after he responded, "Well, its not expired".