Darryl Dawkins

Darryl R. Dawkins
Darryl R. Dawkins
Born	11 January 1957 (age 69); Orlando, Florida, U.S.
Died	27 August 2015 (aged 58)
Occupation(s)	Professional basketball player, coach
Known for	NBA career with Philadelphia 76ers, New Jersey Nets; nickname "Chocolate Thunder"; backboard-shattering dunks

Darryl R. Dawkins (January 11, 1957 – August 27, 2015) was a distinguished American professional basketball athlete and coach, primarily recognized for his tenure with the Philadelphia 76ers and New Jersey Nets within the National Basketball Association. His career also included shorter engagements with the Detroit Pistons and Utah Jazz. Known by the nickname "Chocolate Thunder", bestowed upon him by Stevie Wonder, Dawkins gained fame for his forceful slam dunks, which led the NBA to implement breakaway rims after he shattered backboards twice in 1979.

Throughout nine of his fourteen NBA seasons, Dawkins maintained scoring averages in double digits and ranked among the top players in field-goal percentage. He participated in the NBA Finals on three occasions with the 76ers during the late 1970s and early 1980s. Remarkably, he set a league record by committing 386 fouls during the 1983–84 campaign.

Early life

Born on January 11, 1957, in Orlando, Florida, Dawkins was the son of Harriet James and Frank Dawkins. He was raised primarily by his grandmother, Amanda Celestine Jones.

While attending Maynard Evans High School in Orlando as a senior, Dawkins averaged an impressive 32 points and 21 rebounds per game, leading his squad to a state championship victory. He attracted significant attention from Division I programs and ultimately narrowed his college options to Florida State, Kansas, and Kentucky.

NBA career

To provide financial support for his family, Dawkins declared for the NBA draft directly after high school, becoming the first player ever selected immediately following high school graduation.

Philadelphia 76ers

Chosen fifth overall in the 1975 NBA draft by the Philadelphia 76ers, Dawkins secured a seven-year contract worth $1 million.

After limited court time during his initial two seasons, he played a key role in the playoffs, aiding the Sixers in reaching the 1977 NBA Finals. Although Philadelphia was defeated by Portland in six games, Dawkins emerged as a valuable contributor alongside stars such as Julius Erving and George McGinnis. At just 20 years old, he posted averages of 11.7 points and 7.9 rebounds per game while shooting .575 from the field.

Following McGinnis’s trade prior to the 1978–79 season, Dawkins secured a regular starting position in the frontcourt. For three seasons, he and teammate Caldwell Jones alternated between center and power forward duties. During the 1979–80 season, he averaged 14.7 points and achieved a personal best of 8.7 rebounds per game, contributing to Philadelphia’s advance to the 1980 NBA Finals, where they fell to the Los Angeles Lakers.

In 1981, Dawkins recorded a .607 field-goal percentage—the second highest in the league—while averaging 14 points and 7.2 rebounds per contest. The Sixers progressed to the Eastern Conference Finals but were eliminated by the Boston Celtics in a seven-game series.

Philadelphia returned to face the Lakers again in the 1982 NBA Finals, suffering another defeat. Frustrated by their struggles against Lakers center Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Sixers management decided to trade Dawkins along with Caldwell Jones to the New Jersey Nets in exchange for Moses Malone, who would lead Philadelphia to an NBA championship the following season.

New Jersey Nets

In the 1982 off-season, Dawkins was exchanged to the Nets in return for a first-round draft selection. At age 25, he became part of a roster that included Albert King, Buck Williams, and Otis Birdsong. His initial two seasons with the team marked a revival in his career and coincided with the Nets’ most prosperous era up to that point.

During the 1982–83 campaign, Dawkins averaged 12 points per game while shooting an impressive .599 from the field, placing him third league-wide in field-goal percentage. The Nets concluded the season with a 49–33 record—their best finish since merging from the ABA to the NBA and unmatched until the 2001–02 season. The next year, he achieved a personal best by averaging 16.8 points per contest on .593 shooting along with 6.7 rebounds. A highlight came on November 5, 1983, when Dawkins set a franchise record by blocking 13 shots in a single game.

In the 1984 postseason, as the sixth seed, the Nets pulled off an upset against Dawkins’ former team, the Philadelphia 76ers, clinching their first playoff series victory largely due to Dawkins’ defensive efforts against MVP Moses Malone. Sports Illustrated ranked this upset as the seventh greatest in NBA history. In the subsequent series versus the Milwaukee Bucks, Dawkins posted averages of 22.3 points and 7.3 rebounds; however, the Nets were narrowly defeated in six games, losing by just one point in game six.

Although expectations were high for the 1984–85 season, injuries restricted Dawkins to only 39 games. He returned for the 1985–86 season, averaging 15.3 points on an outstanding .644 field-goal percentage but missed much of the year again due to injury issues. The following season, 1986–87, saw him appear in just six games after undergoing a second back surgery within two years.

Later career

During the 1987 off-season, Dawkins was included in a three-team trade involving seven players that sent him to the Utah Jazz. His stint with Utah was brief, lasting only four games before he was traded to the Detroit Pistons in exchange for two second-round draft picks plus cash considerations.

Dawkins’ personality aligned well with the Pistons’ notorious "Bad Boys" identity. Despite playing merely 14 games over two seasons due to persistent back problems and personal obstacles, he was viewed as a leadership figure within the squad. In his final NBA season, he earned an NBA championship ring as part of the Pistons’ victorious 1989 title run.

He received an invitation to Orlando Magic’s training camp for their inaugural 1989 season but opted instead to continue his career in Italy. There, Dawkins spent several years competing for Torino, Olimpia Milano, and Telemarket Forli. He made attempts at returning to the NBA in 1994 with the Denver Nuggets and again in 1995 with the Boston Celtics.

Remarkably, Dawkins set an NBA record by committing 386 personal fouls during the 1983–84 season. Over his entire career, he accumulated one more foul than Michael Jordan, despite participating in nearly 350 fewer games.

Signature dunking

In a memorable game in 1979 against the Kansas City Kings at Municipal Auditorium, Dawkins shattered the backboard with a dunk—prompting Kings player Bill Robinzine to duck instinctively. He replicated this feat three weeks later versus the San Antonio Spurs at the Spectrum arena. These incidents prompted the NBA to implement rules penalizing backboard-breaking dunks with fines and suspensions.

Dawkins humorously named his initial backboard-shattering dunk "The Chocolate-Thunder-Flying, Robinzine-Crying, Teeth-Shaking, Glass-Breaking, Rump-Roasting, Bun-Toasting, Wham-Bam, Glass-Breaker-I-Am-Jam." He also coined other dunk monikers such as Rim Wrecker, Go-Rilla, and Greyhound Special (referring to coast-to-coast plays). The Sixers even recorded these dunks on official stats under his nicknames "Sir Slam" and "Chocolate Thunder." Dawkins sported gold chain necklaces during games until they were banned following the 1980 NBA Finals—one inscribed with "Sir Slam," another reading "Dr. Dunk." His distinctive look included a shaved and oiled head along with an earring.

At one point, Dawkins claimed extraterrestrial origins from a planet called Lovetron where he practiced “interplanetary funkmanship” during off-seasons.

Legendary musician Stevie Wonder—an avid Sixers fan—bestowed upon him the nickname "Chocolate Thunder."

Post-NBA career

Following his NBA retirement, Dawkins briefly became a member of the Harlem Globetrotters and competed with the Sioux Falls Skyforce in the Continental Basketball Association during the 1995–96 season. These contests were televised nationally on ESPN and featured former NBA player Manute Bol as an opponent.

Dawkins moved into coaching, taking the helm as head coach for the Newark Express in the American Basketball Association and serving as a player-coach for the Winnipeg Cyclone in the International Basketball Association during the 1999–2000 season. During his time with Winnipeg, he averaged 3.8 points and 3.9 rebounds across 18 games.

He also led the Pennsylvania ValleyDawgs in the United States Basketball League until the team folded, earning USBL Coach of the Year recognition in 1999. Dawkins participated in one game for the ValleyDawgs during their 2000 season.

On August 20, 2009, Dawkins was named head coach of Lehigh Carbon Community College’s basketball team, a role he fulfilled until 2011.

Other media

On April 7, 1986, Dawkins made an appearance at WrestleMania II as a guest judge for a boxing match pitting Mr. T (accompanied by Joe Frazier and The Haiti Kid) against Roddy Piper (with Bob Orton and Lou Duva).

In 1989, he portrayed himself, credited as "The Basketball Star," in the documentary film The Big Bang.

Dawkins is included as a reserve player on the 1980s Legends East Team in NBA Ballers and NBA 2K video games. Additionally, he appears as a Legend character in NBA Live Mobile, representing his 1979–80 season with the Philadelphia Sixers.

In 2005, Dawkins competed for an analyst position on ESPN’s reality show Dream Job, alongside other former NBA athletes.

Personal life

Dawkins’ autobiography, titled Chocolate Thunder: The Uncensored Life and Times of Darryl Dawkins and co-written with Charley Rosen, chronicles his NBA journey, encounters with racial discrimination, and personal life including struggles with substance use, partying, and relationships.

In September 1986, he secretly married Kelly Barnes from Trenton, New Jersey. The couple was on the verge of divorce when Barnes tragically died by suicide in November 1987. In 1988, Dawkins wed Robbin Thornton, a former cheerleader for the Nets; their marriage ended after ten years. He later married Janice, with whom he had three children: Nick, Alexis, and Tabitha—Janice’s daughter who has Down syndrome.

His son, Nick Dawkins, plays collegiate football at Penn State University.

In 1999, Dawkins was humorously dubbed "Man of the Millennium" during a Weekend Update segment on Saturday Night Live.

Death

Darryl Dawkins passed away on August 27, 2015, in Allentown, Pennsylvania, at age 58. The Lehigh County coroner indicated an autopsy would be conducted; however, his family confirmed that a heart attack caused his death.

More than 600 individuals attended his public viewing with a casket present. Among those paying respects were former heavyweight boxing champion Larry Holmes, ex-76ers teammate and coach Billy Cunningham, former New Jersey Net Tim Bassett, as well as NBA players Jason Thompson and Karl-Anthony Towns.

NBA

Source

Regular season

|- | align="left" | | align="left" | Philadelphia | 37 || 1 || 4.5 || .500 || || .333 || 1.3 || .1 || .1 || .2 || 2.4 |- | align="left" | | align="left" | Philadelphia | 59 || 0 || 11.6 || .628 || || .506 || 3.9 || .4 || .2 || .8 || 5.3 |- | align="left" | | align="left" | Philadelphia | 70 || 11 || 24.6 || .575 || || .709 || 7.9 || 1.2 || .5 || 1.8 || 11.7 |- | align="left" | | align="left" | Philadelphia | 78 || 12 || 26.1 || .517 || || .672 || 8.1 || 1.6 || .4 || 1.8 || 13.1 |- | align="left" | | align="left" | Philadelphia | 80 || 80 || 31.8 || .522 || .000 || .653 || 8.7 || 1.9 || .6 || 1.8 || 14.7 |- | align="left" | | align="left" | Philadelphia | 76 || 76 || 27.5 || .607 || – || .720 || 7.2 || 1.4 || .5 || 1.5 || 14.0 |- | align="left" | | align="left" | Philadelphia | 48 || 36 || 23.4 || .564 || .000|| .695||6.4||1.1||.4||1.1||11.0 |- | align="left" | | align="left" | New Jersey | 81||81||25.8||.599||–||.646||5.2||1.4||.8||1.9||12.0 |- | align="left" | | align="left" | New Jersey | 81||80||29.8||.593||.400||.735||6.7||1.5||.7||1.7||16.8 |- | align="left" | | align="left" | New Jersey |39||30||24.9||.566||.000||.711||4.6||1.2||.4||.9||13.5 |- | align="left" | | align="left" | New Jersey |51||3||23.7||.644||.000||.707||4.9||1.5||.3||1.2||15.3 |- | align="left" | | align="left" | New Jersey |6||2||17.7||.625||–||.708||3.2||0.3||0.3||0.5||9.5 |- | align="left" | | align="left" | Utah |4||0||6.5||.143||–||.333||1.3||0.3||0||0.3||1..5 |- | align="left" | | align="left" | Detroit |2||0||3..5|||500|||667|||0|||0|||0|||2 |- |- class="sortbottom" ! colspan=2 style=text-align:center; | Career !726!!412!!23..7!! .572!! .133!! .685!!6.! !!1.! !!.! !!.! !!12.!

Playoffs

|- |- class=“sortbottom” ! colspan=2 style=text-align:center; Career !109!!3!!25..1!!546!!000!!703!!61!!11!!.4!!.51!126

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