A Dialogue With Damien
We caught up with the Atlanta Hawks’ Guard/Forward Damien Wilkins while he donated his time to AIM for Youth’s 3rd Annual “Healthy Summer Kick-Off” event on Saturday, June 11, 2011 at Atlantic Station. The event focused on ways to improve the health and lifestyles of children and adults. It featured a panel with notables such as Damien and former NFL linebacker Ed Hartwell. After interacting with a few enthusiastic children, Damien let us know why he can't get enough of Atlanta, why exercising is so essential for not just the season, and more.
JJ- We know you’re from North Carolina but you rep Georgia pretty hard. What is it about Georgia that you like so much?
DW- The community. I like the spirit, the people that are from Atlanta, the people that live here. There’s never a dull moment in the city and I can appreciate that. I like the day life, most of the nightlife is pretty cool and the restaurants are good. But I’m born and bred in North Carolina, Washington, North Carolina. That’s gonna always be my home but you know Atlanta’s definitely a close second.
JJ- You mentioned the community, you like to do a lot of community work, what has been your most memorable community service project and tell us about your community service in general?
DW- I went back home after my rookie year, back to North Carolina and had my first “Damien Wilkins Fun Day.” It was just a big cookout for the community and the youth. We gave away prizes, jerseys, basketballs; we had those big inflatable [Moonwalks] out there. That was my first one, I did four of them. It was my most memorable because it was the first one. It was something I always wanted to do, I always wanted to go back home and give something back. That was my gift to my hometown. Like I said, I did it four times but the first one will never be forgotten.
JJ- What are your summer plans?
DW- Just relax, that’s it, and get ready for next season. Nothing too major. I don’t travel enough, that’s what a lot of people say, I don’t get out enough. Trying to find places to go. I travel so much during the season, I just hate getting back on the airplane again. My mom and my friends always tell me I don’t travel enough so I’m gonna try to do some traveling this summer. I doubt if I’ll go anywhere but I’ll try.
JJ- And working out?
DW- Absolutely. Can’t stop doing that. I was at the gym yesterday, been in there pretty much since the season ended. Gotta stay in shape, keep my summer body together. Just in case I go on a beach somewhere I don’t wanna be embarrassed. *laughs*
JJ- I read about your participation in the 5-alive Program. Can you tell us some more about that?
DW- I did that in conjunction with a friend of mine. I was working with one of the local schools here in Atlanta where we [encouraged] the students of that school to develop projects. We gave them five dollars to come up with a way that they could turn that five dollars into more money by creating some type of job for themselves. It was pretty creative. The kids did a great job with it. Just trying to help them, teach them to help themselves.
JJ- With regards to the season, how do you feel about your season with the Hawks and what do you need to improve on and what are you gonna work on?
DW- Personally, I’m just gonna work on everything. I like to consider myself an all-around player so I spend time in the gym working on every aspect of my game ‘cause I don’t like to have weaknesses. And I think the less weaknesses you have, the better player you are. As a team, we just need to work on our toughness, mentally and physically. We get in such a rut, we get in situations when we’re down and we tend to fold. I don’t wanna see any of that anymore next year. Over the summer, we can take time to correct that.
If you have any inquiries about Damien's participation in future community projects, contact him directly through his Twitter page (@dwilkins3000) or www.twitter.com/dwilkins3000.
JJ- We know you’re from North Carolina but you rep Georgia pretty hard. What is it about Georgia that you like so much?
DW- The community. I like the spirit, the people that are from Atlanta, the people that live here. There’s never a dull moment in the city and I can appreciate that. I like the day life, most of the nightlife is pretty cool and the restaurants are good. But I’m born and bred in North Carolina, Washington, North Carolina. That’s gonna always be my home but you know Atlanta’s definitely a close second.
JJ- You mentioned the community, you like to do a lot of community work, what has been your most memorable community service project and tell us about your community service in general?
DW- I went back home after my rookie year, back to North Carolina and had my first “Damien Wilkins Fun Day.” It was just a big cookout for the community and the youth. We gave away prizes, jerseys, basketballs; we had those big inflatable [Moonwalks] out there. That was my first one, I did four of them. It was my most memorable because it was the first one. It was something I always wanted to do, I always wanted to go back home and give something back. That was my gift to my hometown. Like I said, I did it four times but the first one will never be forgotten.
JJ- What are your summer plans?
DW- Just relax, that’s it, and get ready for next season. Nothing too major. I don’t travel enough, that’s what a lot of people say, I don’t get out enough. Trying to find places to go. I travel so much during the season, I just hate getting back on the airplane again. My mom and my friends always tell me I don’t travel enough so I’m gonna try to do some traveling this summer. I doubt if I’ll go anywhere but I’ll try.
JJ- And working out?
DW- Absolutely. Can’t stop doing that. I was at the gym yesterday, been in there pretty much since the season ended. Gotta stay in shape, keep my summer body together. Just in case I go on a beach somewhere I don’t wanna be embarrassed. *laughs*
JJ- I read about your participation in the 5-alive Program. Can you tell us some more about that?
DW- I did that in conjunction with a friend of mine. I was working with one of the local schools here in Atlanta where we [encouraged] the students of that school to develop projects. We gave them five dollars to come up with a way that they could turn that five dollars into more money by creating some type of job for themselves. It was pretty creative. The kids did a great job with it. Just trying to help them, teach them to help themselves.
JJ- With regards to the season, how do you feel about your season with the Hawks and what do you need to improve on and what are you gonna work on?
DW- Personally, I’m just gonna work on everything. I like to consider myself an all-around player so I spend time in the gym working on every aspect of my game ‘cause I don’t like to have weaknesses. And I think the less weaknesses you have, the better player you are. As a team, we just need to work on our toughness, mentally and physically. We get in such a rut, we get in situations when we’re down and we tend to fold. I don’t wanna see any of that anymore next year. Over the summer, we can take time to correct that.
If you have any inquiries about Damien's participation in future community projects, contact him directly through his Twitter page (@dwilkins3000) or www.twitter.com/dwilkins3000.