Former NBA dunk master dies at 58
DARRYL DAWKINS, 1957 - 2015
Darryl Dawkins, whose backboard-shattering dunks earned him the nickname “Chocolate Thunder,” suffered a heart attack.
Darryl Dawkins was once summoned into the Philadelphia 76ers’ locker room where a celebrity was waiting to meet the man known for dunking with such backboard-breaking force that games had been halted so attendants could clean up the shattered glass.
The guest was Stevie Wonder, the Grammy-winning musician. Though blind, Wonder could sense there was something thunderously special about Dawkins’ game.
“A guy who never saw me gave me the name ‘Chocolate Thunder,’ ” Dawkins explained later in a 2011 interview.
The name stuck, and the rim-wrecking, glass-shattering dunks became his signature, altering the rules of the game and paving the way for breakaway rims.
Dawkins died of a heart attack Thursday morning at a hospital in Allentown, Pa., his family said in a statement. He was 58.
Celebrated for blocking shots and shattering backboards with his aggressive dunks, the 6-foot-11 Dawkins spent parts of 14 seasons in the NBA with Philadelphia, New Jersey, Utah and Detroit. He averaged 12 points and 6.1 rebounds in 726 career regular-season games.
Born Jan. 7, 1957, in Orlando, Fla., Dawkins was drafted straight out of high school, taken as the fifth pick by the 76ers in 1975.
“More than anything Darryl accomplished in his basketball career as the inimitable ‘Chocolate Thunder,’ he was most proud of his role and responsibility as a husband and father,” his family said in a statement released by the NBA.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said Dawkins remained a “beloved” figure in the NBA long after his retirement. Dawkins’ “infectious enthusiasm and his boundless generosity” were commodities that fans and current-day players treasured.
“A great man, entertainer, athlete and ferocious dunker,” tweeted Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson, a former NBA guard. “He will be missed but not forgotten.”
Dawkins was as revered off the court as he was on it. He remained enormously popular after his playing days, even during his stint with the Harlem Globetrotters.
He would name his dunks — the “look out below,” the “yo’ mama” and the “rim wrecker” among them — and often boasted that he hailed from “Planet Lovetron.”
When he twice shattered the backboard — delaying the game as officials cleaned up the mess — the NBA ruled that it would be considered an offense that could result in a fine or even a suspension. The league later shifted to breakaway rims.
Injuries plagued Dawkins late in his NBA career, and he played overseas for several more years, primarily in the Italian League.
’’You were one of my favorite players of all time,” Houston center Dwight Howard posted Thursday on Instagram under a photo of Dawkins dunking in a game for the 76ers. “You were very inspirational to a lot of young players. Thank u for the long talks and great memories. I can’t believe that you’re gone. But you are in a better place. You were the originator of the dunk.”
He is survived by his wife, Janice, and children Dara, Tabitha, Nicholas and Alexis.