An NBA Hall of Famer stepped out on to the court at Northeast High School Monday night, but he was not shooting hoops. Former Atlanta Hawk Dominique Wilkins visited Macon to educate people on preventing and living with diabetes.
"The thing is to try to get these kids recognizing and understanding that diabetes is a problem," said Wilkins.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, diabetes affect 25.6 million people or 8.3 percent of the population of the United States.
Wilkins was diagosed at the age of 40. Since then, he has found ways to cope with the disease. Wilkins stressed the importance of staying active and eating right to prevent diabetes.
"Do the nessecary things to take care of yourself early, because as you get older, and like the physician said, your body changes," explained Wilkins. "It takes making a lifestyle change early on to really make a difference in this disease and the fight against this disease."