Thirty years ago, Jamaal Wilkes was as upright a citizen as you could find in Los Angeles. He was the owner of a financial services company, Smooth as Silk Enterprises, that echoed a nickname he had acquired on the basketball court. A 1970 graduate of Santa Barbara High, he played the hoops game with an understated finesse that won the highest admiration from John Wooden, the legendary coach at UCLA. The 6′7″ forward went on to a 12-year NBA career, earning four championship rings (one with the Golden State Warriors and three with the Lakers).
He was a proud Black American who always stood for the national anthem and supported the work of the police to keep the community safe. So what was Wilkes doing in handcuffs at a downtown L.A. street corner on a December night in 1990? He was wondering the same thing.
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