Darryl Dawkins
From Hoopedia
Contents |
Biography
Born January 11, 1957 in Orlando, Florida, he is most noted for his days with the Philadelphia 76ers and New Jersey Nets, although he also played briefly for the Detroit Pistons and Utah Jazz late in his career.
Dawkins was one of two players to go straight from high school to the NBA, drafted fifth overall out of Maynard Evans High School by the Sixers in the 1975 NBA Draft.
Dawkins is the author of Chocolate Thunder: The Uncensored Life and Times of Darryl Dawkins (co-authored with Charley Rosen), which chronicles his on and off-the-court life as an NBA star. In the book, Dawkins writes of some of the racism he encountered during his NBA career, playing alongside 76ers superstar Julius Erving, and his off-the-court experiences with drugs, parties and women.
Backboard Breaking
He almost instantly became a fan favorite in Philadelphia because of his backboard-shattering dunks (which he would name). He broke two backboards in the 1979-80 season: one at Kansas City's Municipal Auditorium on November 13, 1979 (which he called "The Chocolate-Thunder-Flying, Robinzine-Crying, Teeth-Shaking, Glass-Breaking, Rump Roasting, Bun-Toasting, Wham-Bam-I-Am Jam") and a second backboard 23 days later at the Philadelphia Spectrum. Because his dunks resulted in delays while teams went to find another backboard, the NBA eventually modified their basketball rims to make them collapsible in the event another superstar wanted to emulate Dawkins' dunks.
Additional Dawkins dunk names include: In Your Face Disgrace, The Go-rilla, Earthquaker Shaker, Candyslam, Dunk You Very Much, Look Out Below, Yo Mama, Turbo Sexophonic Delight, Rim Wrecker, Greyhound Bus (went coast-to-coast), Cover Your Head, and Spine Chiller Supreme.
His nickname was "Chocolate Thunder", and he claimed to be an alien from planet Lovetron where he spent off-season practicing "interplanetary funkmanship" and where his girlfriend Juicy Lucy still lived.
Dawkins was also immortalized by the song "Darryl Dawkins: Sound of Love" by the Screaming Headless Torsos. Also, in a farce, he was declared "Man of the Millennium" by Saturday Night Live.
Post NBA career
Following his NBA career, Dawkins did a brief stint with the Harlem Globetrotters. In 2005, along with other former pro basketball players, Dawkins auditioned for an NBA analyst position with ESPN as part of the network's reality series Dream Job.
He was the head coach of the American Basketball Association's Newark Express. He was also the head coach of the short-lived Winnipeg Cyclone.
Dawkins coached the Pennsylvania ValleyDawgs, an Allentown, Pennsylvania-based team affiliated with the United States Basketball League until the team folded in 2006.
