Wilkins joins list of Sonics heroes

The hours ticked past. The roll call of draft picks was called, and Damien Wilkins sat with his parents waiting to hear his name, preparing for the celebration to follow.

Inside Madison Square Garden, into the second round, past prime time, Wilkins waited. Anderson Varejao was drafted. Peter John Ramos, Ha Seung-Jin, Pape Sow. Still no Wilkins.

Rickey Paulding was drafted. So were Marcus Douthit and Blake Stepp. Finally, with the 59th-and-last choice of the 2004 draft, the Indiana Pacers picked Wilkins' teammate at Georgia, Rashad Wright.

And, as the Garden emptied and everybody around them celebrated, Wilkins' mother, Sonia Windley, cried and Wilkins walked into the muggy New York night suddenly worried about his future.

"When the last name was called, I just smiled," Wilkins said yesterday after the do-you-believe-in-miracles Sonics evened their Western Conference semifinal playoff series with San Antonio at 2-2 with a 101-89 win. "Obviously I was frustrated. My mom was extremely upset. I had to help her gain her composure.

"Then we walked out of the Garden and I said to her, 'Those teams are going to realize they made a mistake one day.' When you don't get drafted, it's kind of like not getting the job you wanted. I lost a little confidence in myself at first. I was thinking, 'Maybe they're right. Maybe I can't play in this league.' But I knew better. I wanted to show people I deserved to be drafted. I wanted to prove people wrong."

We — and by we I mean mostly me — haven't been right about the Sonics all season. We — come to think of it that includes most of the United States and Canada — didn't think they would make the playoffs. And we certainly didn't think they had a prayer against San Antonio.

But while we — we know who we are — kept waiting for the collapse, the Sonics kept winning and winning and winning. They created a belief in the locker room that slowly, very slowly, has spread across the country.

With Ray Allen as the constant, the rest of the team has followed. Different stars on different nights from last autumn all the way to middle of spring.

Yesterday, the Sonics should have been out of their element. Vlade Radmanovic already was gone, and two hours before the game All-Star forward Rashard Lewis decided the pain in his hyper-extended big toe wouldn't allow him to play. Somebody new was going to have to step into the swelter of the playoffs and beat the championship-tested Spurs.

Enter undrafted rookie Damien Wilkins, who had played only 35 minutes in the first three games of the series and had played in only 29 games in the regular season.

Into this must-win playoff game came this rawest of rookies. And he played as if he were destined for these days.

Wilkins entered in the first quarter and two minutes later stripped the ball out of Tim Duncan's hands and went the length of the floor for a score. Fearlessly he crashed the offensive glass for a rebound and the first Sonic basket of the second quarter.

He stole a long pass intended for Glenn Robinson, blocked a shot by Manu Ginobili. He hit a three and corkscrewed into the lane for another score.

In 32 unforgettable minutes, he buried all of the disappointment of last June. Even though coach Nate McMillan didn't call one play for him, Wilkins scored 15 points. He created opportunities for himself with five steals and six rebounds.

"What's the saying — Imitation is the best form of flattery? Damien, since the day he got here, has asked me questions," said Allen, who scored a team-high 32 points. "He's asked me everything. It's like he's a sponge.

"His game has grown so much from when he first got here. It didn't look like he was even going to make the team. And now he's helping us win playoff games."

Wilkins ate dinner at Allen's house Saturday, played games and kept the barrage of questions coming until after 8 o'clock.

"I think I get on Ray's nerves a lot," Wilkins said. "I'm always asking him questions and trying to find ways to get better. I think Ray must think, 'I wish this kid would leave me alone.' But I can't help it. And he's been great.

"To tell you the truth, listening is a great skill, and I've tried to do as much of that as I can. I always stay prepared. I prepared all year like I was going to play 48 minutes every day. It's not one or two things. It's just a matter of staying in the gym, working as hard as I can and asking questions."

A restricted free agent at the end of the season, Wilkins is the tough, do-everything player the Sonics need. He's the next coming of McMillan, a player who was guaranteed nothing when he came to Seattle but listened and worked and forced the coaches to pay attention to him.

"On the bus going to the airport after we lost in San Antonio, he asked me how I stay consistent," Allen said. "I told him you have to learn to play the game different ways. You can't just score. You run in transition. You get some steals. You stay in better shape than your defender.

"Look what happened. He created possessions for himself. Nate didn't call one play for him and look how many points he scored. That is the sign of a great player."

Damien Wilkins, yeah, Damien Wilkins, helped push the Sonics to a tie in a playoff series that already felt lost.

Meanwhile, we — and by we I mean me — continue to be surprised by this team we thought was going nowhere.

Steve Kelley: 206-464-2176 or skelley@seattletimes.com