Dominique was a poor little boy who always got picked on because he was black. He always got beaten up every day, but he was also a very good basketball player and hardly anybody knew about it. He always practiced basketball with his poor old hoop that he picked up from the junkyard. His family was very poor and they could afford hardly anything. They were poor but little Dominique didn't have to be rich to be smart in school and get good grades. But no grade was harder for Dominique than the eighth grade.

Later, when he was in high school he didn't join basketball even though he was very good. He only tried out for the football team and made it. And he. turned out to be a very good quarterback.

When Dominique graduated from high school, Notre Dame College wanted him for their football team because he was so good. But he was still poor and he decided to go to UCLA instead. There he found a part time job to pay for it. He joined basketball instead of football and made the team in the top five. He began dunking the ball in his freshman year in college. And he was getting good grades in his school work too.

After he graduated from UCLA and got his Physical Education degree, the Atlanta Hawks hired him for their team. But he was a bench warmer at first. After a couple of years though they let him play on the first string and he became the most valued player of the team.

When he went home for a vacation all his classmates' attitudes were changed about him. They now treated him like a king instead of a punching bag.

By: Chris Fitka