Darryl Dawkins
Encyclopedia
Darryl Dawkins is a retired American
professional basketball
player, most noted for his days with the NBA's Philadelphia 76ers
and New Jersey Nets
, although he also played briefly for the Detroit Pistons
and Utah Jazz
late in his career. He was nicknamed "Chocolate Thunder" for his powerful dunks, which notably led to the NBA adopting breakaway rim
s due to Dawkins shattering the backboard on two occasions in 1979.
three times as a member of the Philadelphia 76ers
in the late 1970s and early 1980s. On the flip side, Dawkins set an NBA record for fouls in a season (386 in 1983-84
), and he never quite lived up to the expectations that had been heaped upon him when he was drafted out of high school.
"Many of us will judge him solely on what he could have been," said Dave Wohl
, who played against and coached Dawkins, in Sports Illustrated
. "Too many will be blinded by the flashes of brilliance that never materialized into consistent greatness. There were times when he teased us with a hint of how he could dominate a game. And we went home in awe and yet sad because we knew of no spell to make it happen more frequently. But few players could make us feel that way even once."
in Orlando, Dawkins was “probably the best high school basketball player ever and one of the best people I ever met,” his prep coach, Fred Pennington, told Inside Sports
. The team won the state championship in 1975, a year after the ABA’s Utah Stars
had plucked Moses Malone
right out of Petersburg (Virginia) High School.
as a hardship candidate. The Philadelphia 76ers
made him the fifth overall pick, behind David Thompson
, David Meyers
, Marvin Webster
, and Alvan Adams
. According to the New York Daily News
, when Dawkins made his debut with the 76ers, New York Knicks
guard Walt Frazier
took one look and said, "I bet his teachers called him ‘Mr. Darryl.’"
With his size, speed, and touch, Dawkins was expected to take over the league. But he handled the expectations in typical fashion. "When I walked into the league, they wanted me to be Wilt Chamberlain
right away—without one minute of college ball," he told the Daily News. "I can’t be Wilt Chamberlain. Wilt is much taller than me."
A raw talent who needed time to develop, Dawkins languished on the Sixers’ bench for his first two seasons. As a rookie in 1975-76
he played in only 37 games, averaging 2.4 points in 4.5 minutes per game. The next year he played a limited role during the regular season but began to emerge during the playoffs. The Sixers advanced all the way to the NBA Finals
that year, and Dawkins was called upon to help battle Portland’s
Bill Walton
. The Trail Blazers won the series in six games, but Dawkins earned respect among the Philadelphia coaching staff with 7.3 points and 5.4 rebounds per contest in the postseason.
In the 1977-78 season
Dawkins finally found a regular role, coming off the bench for nearly 25 minutes per game. Now a robust 20 years old, he averaged 11.7 points and 7.9 rebounds and ranked second in the league in field-goal percentage at .575. With a club that included Julius Erving
, George McGinnis
, Lloyd Free
, and Doug Collins
, the Sixers made another solid postseason run, advancing to the Eastern Conference Finals before losing to the Washington Bullets in six games.
Prior to the 1978–79 season Philadelphia traded McGinnis to the Denver Nuggets
for Bobby Jones and Ralph Simpson
. The move was made in part to clear space for Dawkins on the Sixers’ front line, which also included 6-foot-11 Caldwell Jones
. Over the next three seasons Dawkins and Caldwell Jones split time at the center and power forward positions, and Dawkins had the most productive stretch of his career. In 1979–80 he averaged 14.7 points and a career-high 8.7 rebounds, helping the Sixers back to the NBA Finals
, which they lost to the Los Angeles Lakers
in six games.
in November 1979, Dawkins threw down such a massive dunk that the backboard shattered, sending the Kings' Bill Robinzine
ducking. Three weeks later he did it again. A few days after that the NBA ruled that breaking a backboard was an offense that would result in a fine and suspension.
Dawkins named the first backboard-breaking dunk "The Chocolate-Thunder-Flying, Robinzine-Crying, Teeth-Shaking, Glass-Breaking, Rump-Roasting, Bun-Toasting, Wham-Bam, Glass-Breaker-I-Am-Jam." http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VX7TSWStfVs
He named other dunks as well: the Rim Wrecker, the Go-Rilla, the Look Out Below, the In-Your-Face Disgrace, the Cover Your Head, the Yo-Mama, and the Spine-Chiller Supreme. The 76ers also kept a separate column on the stat sheet for Dawkins’s self-created nicknames: "Sir Slam", "Dr. Dunkenstein", and "Chocolate Thunder."
Also, he claimed to be an alien from the planet Lovetron where he spent the off-season practicing "interplanetary funkmanship" and where his girlfriend Juicy Lucy still lived.
Dawkins produced a .607 field-goal percentage, second in the NBA to Artis Gilmore’s
.670. Dawkins averaged 14 points and 7.2 rebounds for the year, but Philadelphia failed to return to the Finals. The club met the Boston Celtics
in the Eastern Conference Finals and lost in seven games.
The 76ers suffered another postseason disappointment in 1982
when they reached the Finals but lost to the Los Angeles Lakers in six games. Frustrated with the team’s inability to handle Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
, Sixers management began to shake up the center position. First Philadelphia traded Dawkins, who missed nearly half of the 1981-82 season
campaign with injuries, to the New Jersey Nets
for a first-round draft pick. Then the Sixers sent Caldwell Jones
and a first-round pick to the Houston Rockets
in exchange for Moses Malone
.
, Buck Williams
, and Otis Birdsong
. He had two productive seasons in a Nets uniform before injuries destroyed the rest of his career. In the 1982-83 season
Dawkins averaged 12.0 points and shot .599 from the floor, ranking third in the league in field-goal percentage behind Gilmore and Steve Johnson
. The next season he poured in a career-high 16.8 points per game on .593 field-goal shooting and grabbed 6.7 rebounds per contest. Dawkins also set a dubious NBA record that year when he committed 386 personal fouls for the season.
The 1983-84 campaign
was Dawkins’s last full season. Injuries limited him to only 39 games in 1984-85, and then a back injury in the 1985-86 campaign
all but ended his career. At the time, Dawkins was averaging 15.3 points and shooting .644 from the floor, but the injury sidelined him for 31 of the Nets’ final 32 games and led to abortive playing attempts over the next three seasons. With New Jersey, then the Utah Jazz
, then the Detroit Pistons
, Dawkins kept trying to come back, but his back wouldn’t let him. He played only 26 games from 1986-87
through 1988-89
, finally retiring at the end of the 1988-89 season
at age 32. He attempted a comeback in 1994 attending Denver Nuggets training camp and again in 1995 with the Boston Celtics. Dawkins also spent several seasons after 1989, playing in the Italian league for Torino, Olimpia Milano
and Telemarket Forli.
Dawkins has the record for most personal fouls committed in a season, with 386 in 1984, which is seven more than his 379 fouls the previous year, which ranks second all time. He committed one more personal foul during his career than Michael Jordan
, despite playing nearly 350 fewer games.
, followed by a season spent with the Sioux Falls Skyforce of the Continental Basketball Association in 1995-1996. During this season, the Skyforce games versus the Florida Beach Dogs were covered by ESPN as Florida featured former NBA center Manute Bol
, and ESPN could not resist the novelty of Darryl Dawkins versus Manute Bol. 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 player/coach of the short-lived Winnipeg Cyclone
.
He was the head coach of the Allentown, Pennsylvania
-based Pennsylvania ValleyDawgs
of the United States Basketball League
until they folded.
On August 20, 2009, Lehigh Carbon Community College (located in Schnecksville, PA) announced that Dawkins would be the head coach of their men's basketball team for the upcoming 2009-2010 season.
, and his off-the-court experiences with drugs, parties and women.
Darryl Dawkins was briefly married to Kelly Barnes of Trenton, New Jersey. Kelly Barnes Dawkins committed suicide on November 1, 1987 back home in New Jersey. Dawkins was on the road with the team at the time. (The New York Times, November 8, 1987). He is currently married to his wife Janice and they have 4 kids, including one daughter with Down syndrome
from Janice's previous marriage.
Dawkins appears in NBA Ballers
and the ESPN NBA 2K video games as a reserve member of the '80s Legends East Team. In 1999, Saturday Night Live
named Dawkins the "Man of the Millennium" in a "Weekend Update" sketch.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
professional basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
player, most noted for his days with the NBA's Philadelphia 76ers
Philadelphia 76ers
The Philadelphia 76ers are a professional basketball team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They play in the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Basketball Association . Originally known as the Syracuse Nationals, they are one of the oldest franchises in the NBA...
and New Jersey Nets
New Jersey Nets
The New Jersey Nets are a professional basketball team based in Newark, New Jersey. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association...
, although he also played briefly for the Detroit Pistons
Detroit Pistons
The Detroit Pistons are a franchise of the National Basketball Association based in Auburn Hills, Michigan. The team's home arena is The Palace of Auburn Hills. It was originally founded in Fort Wayne, Indiana as the Fort Wayne Pistons as a member of the National Basketball League in 1941, where...
and Utah Jazz
Utah Jazz
The Utah Jazz is a professional basketball team based in Salt Lake City, Utah. They are currently a part of the Northwest Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association...
late in his career. He was nicknamed "Chocolate Thunder" for his powerful dunks, which notably led to the NBA adopting breakaway rim
Breakaway rim
A breakaway rim is a basketball hoop that can bend slightly when a player dunks a basketball, and then instantly snap back into a horizontal position when the player releases it. It allows players to dunk the ball without shattering the backboard, and it reduces the possibility of wrist injuries...
s due to Dawkins shattering the backboard on two occasions in 1979.
Biography
Dawkins averaged double figures in scoring nine times in his 14 years in the NBA, often ranking among the league leaders in field-goal percentage. He also played in the NBA FinalsNBA Finals
The NBA Finals is the championship series of the National Basketball Association . The series was named the NBA World Championship Series until 1986....
three times as a member of the Philadelphia 76ers
Philadelphia 76ers
The Philadelphia 76ers are a professional basketball team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They play in the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Basketball Association . Originally known as the Syracuse Nationals, they are one of the oldest franchises in the NBA...
in the late 1970s and early 1980s. On the flip side, Dawkins set an NBA record for fouls in a season (386 in 1983-84
1983-84 NBA season
-Statistics leaders:-Yearly awards:*Most Valuable Player: Larry Bird, Boston Celtics*Rookie of the Year: Ralph Sampson, Houston Rockets*Defensive Player of the Year: Sidney Moncrief, Milwaukee Bucks...
), and he never quite lived up to the expectations that had been heaped upon him when he was drafted out of high school.
"Many of us will judge him solely on what he could have been," said Dave Wohl
Dave Wohl
David Bruce Wohl is an American former basketball player and coach. A 6'2" guard who grew up in East Brunswick Township, New Jersey and played collegiately at the University of Pennsylvania, Wohl was selected in the 3rd round of the 1971 NBA Draft by the Philadelphia 76ers...
, who played against and coached Dawkins, in Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated is an American sports media company owned by media conglomerate Time Warner. Its self titled magazine has over 3.5 million subscribers and is read by 23 million adults each week, including over 18 million men. It was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the...
. "Too many will be blinded by the flashes of brilliance that never materialized into consistent greatness. There were times when he teased us with a hint of how he could dominate a game. And we went home in awe and yet sad because we knew of no spell to make it happen more frequently. But few players could make us feel that way even once."
High school career
At Maynard Evans High SchoolMaynard Evans High School
Maynard Evans High School is a high school located in Orlando, Florida, United States served by Orange County Public Schools. The school's name is often shortened to "Evans High School" and the mascot for the school are the Trojans....
in Orlando, Dawkins was “probably the best high school basketball player ever and one of the best people I ever met,” his prep coach, Fred Pennington, told Inside Sports
Inside Sports
Inside Sports magazine was a major general interest sports magazine in the United States. Launched in 1979 by Newsweek, it was designed as an edgier, monthly alternative to the longer-running Sports Illustrated and SPORT Magazine brands...
. The team won the state championship in 1975, a year after the ABA’s Utah Stars
Utah Stars
The Utah Stars was an American Basketball Association team based in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA.Under head coach Bill Sharman the Stars were the first major professional basketball team to use a pre-game shootaround.-History:...
had plucked Moses Malone
Moses Malone
Moses Eugene Malone is a retired American Hall of Fame basketball player who starred in both the American Basketball Association and the National Basketball Association...
right out of Petersburg (Virginia) High School.
NBA career
Hoping to follow in Malone’s footsteps, the 18-year-old Dawkins renounced his college eligibility and applied for the 1975 NBA Draft1975 NBA Draft
The 1975 NBA Draft was the 29th annual draft of the National Basketball Association . The draft was held on May 29, 1975 before the 1975–76 season. In this draft, 18 NBA teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball players and other eligible players, including international players...
as a hardship candidate. The Philadelphia 76ers
Philadelphia 76ers
The Philadelphia 76ers are a professional basketball team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They play in the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Basketball Association . Originally known as the Syracuse Nationals, they are one of the oldest franchises in the NBA...
made him the fifth overall pick, behind David Thompson
David Thompson (basketball)
David O'Neil Thompson is a former American professional basketball star with the Denver Nuggets of both the National Basketball Association and American Basketball Association , as well as the Seattle SuperSonics...
, David Meyers
David Meyers (basketball)
David William Meyers is a retired American college basketball forward/center at the University of California, Los Angeles and professional basketball player in the National Basketball Association for the Milwaukee Bucks...
, Marvin Webster
Marvin Webster
Marvin Nathaniel Webster was an American professional basketball player. Nicknamed "The Human Eraser" and "Marvin the Magnificent", he played one season in the American Basketball Association and nine in the National Basketball Association with the Denver Nuggets , Seattle SuperSonics , New York...
, and Alvan Adams
Alvan Adams
Alvan Leigh Adams is a retired American professional basketball player. After starring at the University of Oklahoma, the 6'9" power forward/center was selected by the Phoenix Suns with the 4th pick of the 1975 NBA Draft...
. According to the New York Daily News
New York Daily News
The Daily News of New York City is the fourth most widely circulated daily newspaper in the United States with a daily circulation of 605,677, as of November 1, 2011....
, when Dawkins made his debut with the 76ers, New York Knicks
New York Knicks
The New York Knickerbockers, prominently known as the Knicks, are a professional basketball team based in New York City. They are part of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association...
guard Walt Frazier
Walt Frazier
Walter "Clyde" Frazier is a retired American basketball player in the National Basketball Association . He was blessed with a unique combination of court vision, quickness, and size for a guard...
took one look and said, "I bet his teachers called him ‘Mr. Darryl.’"
With his size, speed, and touch, Dawkins was expected to take over the league. But he handled the expectations in typical fashion. "When I walked into the league, they wanted me to be Wilt Chamberlain
Wilt Chamberlain
Wilton Norman "Wilt" Chamberlain was an American professional NBA basketball player for the Philadelphia/San Francisco Warriors, the Philadelphia 76ers and the Los Angeles Lakers; he also played for the Harlem Globetrotters prior to playing in the NBA...
right away—without one minute of college ball," he told the Daily News. "I can’t be Wilt Chamberlain. Wilt is much taller than me."
A raw talent who needed time to develop, Dawkins languished on the Sixers’ bench for his first two seasons. As a rookie in 1975-76
1975-76 NBA season
The 1975–76 NBA season was the 30th season of the National Basketball Association. The season ended with the Boston Celtics winning the NBA Championship, beating the Phoenix Suns 4 games to 2 in the NBA Finals.-Notable occurrences:...
he played in only 37 games, averaging 2.4 points in 4.5 minutes per game. The next year he played a limited role during the regular season but began to emerge during the playoffs. The Sixers advanced all the way to the NBA Finals
1977 NBA Finals
The 1977 NBA World Championship Series was the championship round of the 1976-77 NBA season. The Portland Trail Blazers of the Western Conference played against the Philadelphia 76ers of the Eastern Conference, with the 76ers holding home-court advantage. Their 4 regular season meetings had been...
that year, and Dawkins was called upon to help battle Portland’s
Portland Trail Blazers
The Portland Trail Blazers, commonly known as the Blazers, are an American professional basketball team based in Portland, Oregon. They play in the Northwest Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association . The Trail Blazers originally played their home games in the...
Bill Walton
Bill Walton
William Theodore "Bill" Walton III is a retired American basketball player and television sportscaster. The "Big Red-Head", as he was called, achieved superstardom playing for John Wooden's powerhouse UCLA Bruins in the early '70s, winning three straight College Player of the Year Awards, while...
. The Trail Blazers won the series in six games, but Dawkins earned respect among the Philadelphia coaching staff with 7.3 points and 5.4 rebounds per contest in the postseason.
In the 1977-78 season
1977-78 NBA season
The 1977–78 NBA season was the 32nd season of the National Basketball Association. The season ended with the Washington Bullets winning the NBA Championship, beating the Seattle SuperSonics 4 games to 3 in the NBA Finals.-Notable occurrences:...
Dawkins finally found a regular role, coming off the bench for nearly 25 minutes per game. Now a robust 20 years old, he averaged 11.7 points and 7.9 rebounds and ranked second in the league in field-goal percentage at .575. With a club that included Julius Erving
Julius Erving
Julius Winfield Erving II , commonly known by the nickname Dr. J, is a retired American basketball player who helped launch a modern style of play that emphasizes leaping and play above the rim....
, George McGinnis
George McGinnis
George F. McGinnis is a retired American professional basketball player, most notably with the Indiana Pacers of the American Basketball Association . He was drafted into the ABA from Indiana University in 1971...
, Lloyd Free
World B. Free
World B. Free is an American former professional basketball player who played in the NBA from 1975–1988. Free was known as the "Prince of Midair" as well as "All-World".-Early years:...
, and Doug Collins
Doug Collins
Paul Douglas "Doug" Collins is a retired American basketball player, a former four-time NBA All-Star and currently the head coach of the NBA's Philadelphia 76ers.-High school and college:...
, the Sixers made another solid postseason run, advancing to the Eastern Conference Finals before losing to the Washington Bullets in six games.
Prior to the 1978–79 season Philadelphia traded McGinnis to the Denver Nuggets
Denver Nuggets
The Denver Nuggets are a professional basketball team based in Denver, Colorado. They play in the National Basketball Association . They were founded as the Denver Rockets in 1967 as a charter franchise of the American Basketball Association, and became one of that league's more successful teams...
for Bobby Jones and Ralph Simpson
Ralph Simpson
Ralph Derek Simpson is a retired American basketball player. He played professionally in the ABA and NBA from 1970 to 1980....
. The move was made in part to clear space for Dawkins on the Sixers’ front line, which also included 6-foot-11 Caldwell Jones
Caldwell Jones
Caldwell "Pops" Jones is a retired American professional basketball player.Jones was drafted from Albany State University by the Philadelphia 76ers with the 14th pick in the 1973 NBA Draft...
. Over the next three seasons Dawkins and Caldwell Jones split time at the center and power forward positions, and Dawkins had the most productive stretch of his career. In 1979–80 he averaged 14.7 points and a career-high 8.7 rebounds, helping the Sixers back to the NBA Finals
1980 NBA Finals
The 1980 NBA World Championship Series was the championship round of the 1979–80 NBA season.Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was the league's MVP. But midway through Game 5, the Laker center suffered a severely sprained ankle. He managed to come back in the game in the 4th quarter to lead the Lakers to victory...
, which they lost to the Los Angeles Lakers
Los Angeles Lakers
The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles, California. They play in the Pacific Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association...
in six games.
Breaking the backboard
In a game against the Kansas City KingsSacramento Kings
The Sacramento Kings are a professional basketball team based in Sacramento, California, United States. They are currently members of the Western Conference of the National Basketball Association...
in November 1979, Dawkins threw down such a massive dunk that the backboard shattered, sending the Kings' Bill Robinzine
Bill Robinzine
William Clintard "Bill" Robinzine was an American professional basketball player.Born in Chicago, Illinois, Robinzine grew to be a 6' 7" forward from DePaul University. He played seven seasons in the NBA, competing for the Kansas City Kings, Cleveland Cavaliers, Dallas Mavericks, and Utah Jazz...
ducking. Three weeks later he did it again. A few days after that the NBA ruled that breaking a backboard was an offense that would result in a fine and suspension.
Dawkins named the first backboard-breaking dunk "The Chocolate-Thunder-Flying, Robinzine-Crying, Teeth-Shaking, Glass-Breaking, Rump-Roasting, Bun-Toasting, Wham-Bam, Glass-Breaker-I-Am-Jam." http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VX7TSWStfVs
He named other dunks as well: the Rim Wrecker, the Go-Rilla, the Look Out Below, the In-Your-Face Disgrace, the Cover Your Head, the Yo-Mama, and the Spine-Chiller Supreme. The 76ers also kept a separate column on the stat sheet for Dawkins’s self-created nicknames: "Sir Slam", "Dr. Dunkenstein", and "Chocolate Thunder."
Also, he claimed to be an alien from the planet Lovetron where he spent the off-season practicing "interplanetary funkmanship" and where his girlfriend Juicy Lucy still lived.
Postseason disappointments
In the 1981 season1980-81 NBA season
-Statistics leaders:-NBA awards:*Most Valuable Player: Julius Erving, Philadelphia 76ers*Rookie of the Year: Darrell Griffith, Utah Jazz*Coach of the Year: Jack McKinney, Indiana Pacers*All-NBA First Team:**Larry Bird, Boston Celtics...
Dawkins produced a .607 field-goal percentage, second in the NBA to Artis Gilmore’s
Artis Gilmore
Artis Gilmore is a retired American Hall of Fame basketball player who played in the American Basketball Association and National Basketball Association...
.670. Dawkins averaged 14 points and 7.2 rebounds for the year, but Philadelphia failed to return to the Finals. The club met the Boston Celtics
Boston Celtics
The Boston Celtics are a National Basketball Association team based in Boston, Massachusetts. They play in the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference. Founded in 1946, the team is currently owned by Boston Basketball Partners LLC. The Celtics play their home games at the TD Garden, which...
in the Eastern Conference Finals and lost in seven games.
The 76ers suffered another postseason disappointment in 1982
1982 NBA Finals
The 1982 NBA World Championship Series was the championship round of the 1981-82 NBA season, the top level of competition in men's professional basketball in North America. The series saw the Los Angeles Lakers face the Philadelphia 76ers....
when they reached the Finals but lost to the Los Angeles Lakers in six games. Frustrated with the team’s inability to handle Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is a retired American professional basketball player. He is the NBA's all-time leading scorer, with 38,387 points. During his career with the NBA's Milwaukee Bucks and Los Angeles Lakers from 1969 to 1989, Abdul-Jabbar won six NBA championships and a record six regular season...
, Sixers management began to shake up the center position. First Philadelphia traded Dawkins, who missed nearly half of the 1981-82 season
1981-82 NBA season
-Statistics leaders:-NBA awards:*Most Valuable Player: Moses Malone, Houston Rockets*Rookie of the Year: Buck Williams, New Jersey Nets*Coach of the Year: Gene Shue, Washington Bullets*All-NBA First Team:**Larry Bird, Boston Celtics...
campaign with injuries, to the New Jersey Nets
New Jersey Nets
The New Jersey Nets are a professional basketball team based in Newark, New Jersey. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association...
for a first-round draft pick. Then the Sixers sent Caldwell Jones
Caldwell Jones
Caldwell "Pops" Jones is a retired American professional basketball player.Jones was drafted from Albany State University by the Philadelphia 76ers with the 14th pick in the 1973 NBA Draft...
and a first-round pick to the Houston Rockets
Houston Rockets
The Houston Rockets are an American professional basketball team based in Houston, Texas. The team plays in the Southwest Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association . The team was established in 1967, and played in San Diego, California for four years, before being...
in exchange for Moses Malone
Moses Malone
Moses Eugene Malone is a retired American Hall of Fame basketball player who starred in both the American Basketball Association and the National Basketball Association...
.
Injury-plagued final seasons
At age 25, Dawkins joined a Nets club that included Albert KingAlbert King (basketball)
Albert King is a retired American professional basketball player. King played at Fort Hamilton High School in Brooklyn and is regarded as one of the nation's greatest high school players of all time. He was rated the top prep player in the nation over Magic Johnson and Gene Banks during his senior...
, Buck Williams
Buck Williams
Charles Linwood Williams , better known as "Buck", is a retired American professional basketball player and current assistant coach for the Portland Trail Blazers. He was well known for his rebounding ability and trademark goggles.Williams, 6 ft 8 in , ranks 13th all-time in NBA career rebounds...
, and Otis Birdsong
Otis Birdsong
Otis Lee Birdsong is an American former professional basketball player. He spent twelve seasons in the NBA and appeared in four NBA All-Star Games....
. He had two productive seasons in a Nets uniform before injuries destroyed the rest of his career. In the 1982-83 season
1982-83 NBA season
-Statistics leaders:-NBA awards:*Most Valuable Player: Moses Malone, Philadelphia 76ers*Rookie of the Year: Terry Cummings, San Diego Clippers*Defensive Player of the Year: Sidney Moncrief, Milwaukee Bucks...
Dawkins averaged 12.0 points and shot .599 from the floor, ranking third in the league in field-goal percentage behind Gilmore and Steve Johnson
Steve Johnson (basketball)
Clarence Stephen "Steve" Johnson is a retired American professional basketball player, who played for numerous teams. He played the power forward and center positions...
. The next season he poured in a career-high 16.8 points per game on .593 field-goal shooting and grabbed 6.7 rebounds per contest. Dawkins also set a dubious NBA record that year when he committed 386 personal fouls for the season.
The 1983-84 campaign
1983-84 NBA season
-Statistics leaders:-Yearly awards:*Most Valuable Player: Larry Bird, Boston Celtics*Rookie of the Year: Ralph Sampson, Houston Rockets*Defensive Player of the Year: Sidney Moncrief, Milwaukee Bucks...
was Dawkins’s last full season. Injuries limited him to only 39 games in 1984-85, and then a back injury in the 1985-86 campaign
1985-86 NBA season
-Statistics leaders:-NBA awards:*Most Valuable Player: Larry Bird, Boston Celtics*Rookie of the Year: Patrick Ewing, New York Knicks*Defensive Player of the Year: Alvin Robertson, San Antonio Spurs...
all but ended his career. At the time, Dawkins was averaging 15.3 points and shooting .644 from the floor, but the injury sidelined him for 31 of the Nets’ final 32 games and led to abortive playing attempts over the next three seasons. With New Jersey, then the Utah Jazz
Utah Jazz
The Utah Jazz is a professional basketball team based in Salt Lake City, Utah. They are currently a part of the Northwest Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association...
, then the Detroit Pistons
Detroit Pistons
The Detroit Pistons are a franchise of the National Basketball Association based in Auburn Hills, Michigan. The team's home arena is The Palace of Auburn Hills. It was originally founded in Fort Wayne, Indiana as the Fort Wayne Pistons as a member of the National Basketball League in 1941, where...
, Dawkins kept trying to come back, but his back wouldn’t let him. He played only 26 games from 1986-87
1986-87 NBA season
-Statistics leaders:-Yearly awards:* Most Valuable Player: Magic Johnson, Los Angeles Lakers* Rookie of the Year: Chuck Person, Indiana Pacers* Defensive Player of the Year: Michael Cooper, Los Angeles Lakers...
through 1988-89
1988-89 NBA season
-Statistics leaders:-NBA awards:*Most Valuable Player: Magic Johnson, Los Angeles Lakers*Rookie of the Year: Mitch Richmond, Golden State Warriors*Defensive Player of the Year: Mark Eaton, Utah Jazz...
, finally retiring at the end of the 1988-89 season
1988-89 NBA season
-Statistics leaders:-NBA awards:*Most Valuable Player: Magic Johnson, Los Angeles Lakers*Rookie of the Year: Mitch Richmond, Golden State Warriors*Defensive Player of the Year: Mark Eaton, Utah Jazz...
at age 32. He attempted a comeback in 1994 attending Denver Nuggets training camp and again in 1995 with the Boston Celtics. Dawkins also spent several seasons after 1989, playing in the Italian league for Torino, Olimpia Milano
Olimpia Milano
Olimpia Milano is a Lega Basket Italian professional basketball team, based in Milan, Italy, founded in 1936 by Milan businessman Adolfo Bogoncelli. Its colors are red and white, and the team is sometimes referred as "Scarpette Rosse" because team officials imported from the United States red...
and Telemarket Forli.
Dawkins has the record for most personal fouls committed in a season, with 386 in 1984, which is seven more than his 379 fouls the previous year, which ranks second all time. He committed one more personal foul during his career than Michael Jordan
Michael Jordan
Michael Jeffrey Jordan is a former American professional basketball player, active entrepreneur, and majority owner of the Charlotte Bobcats...
, despite playing nearly 350 fewer games.
Post NBA career
Following his NBA career, Dawkins had a brief stint with the Harlem GlobetrottersHarlem Globetrotters
The Harlem Globetrotters are an exhibition basketball team that combines athleticism, theater and comedy. The executive offices for the team are currently in downtown Phoenix, Arizona; the team is owned by Shamrock Holdings, which oversees the various investments of the Roy E. Disney family.Over...
, followed by a season spent with the Sioux Falls Skyforce of the Continental Basketball Association in 1995-1996. During this season, the Skyforce games versus the Florida Beach Dogs were covered by ESPN as Florida featured former NBA center Manute Bol
Manute Bol
Manute Bol was a Sudanese-born basketball player and activist. At 7 feet, 7 inches , Bol was one of the tallest players ever to appear in the National Basketball Association, along with Gheorghe Mureşan. Unlike Mureşan, however, Bol was naturally tall and did not have a Pituitary disease...
, and ESPN could not resist the novelty of Darryl Dawkins versus Manute Bol. In 2005, along with other former pro basketball players, Dawkins auditioned for an NBA analyst position with ESPN
ESPN
Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....
as part of the network's reality series
Reality television
Reality television is a genre of television programming that presents purportedly unscripted dramatic or humorous situations, documents actual events, and usually features ordinary people instead of professional actors, sometimes in a contest or other situation where a prize is awarded...
Dream Job
Dream Job
Dream Job is an American reality television show from ESPN, which began on February 22, 2004. It was the network's second reality show, with two editions of Beg, Borrow & Deal having previously aired. However, this was the first reality show from a network to offer its winner an on-air place on one...
.
He was the head coach of the American Basketball Association
American Basketball Association (21st century)
The American Basketball Association, often abbreviated as ABA, is a semi-professional men's basketball league that was founded in 1999. The current ABA has no affiliation with the original American Basketball Association that merged with the National Basketball Association in 1976...
's Newark Express
Newark Express
The Jersey Express is a team in the Northeast Division of the Blue Conference of the American Basketball Association based in East Orange, New Jersey. The team was formed in 2005 as the Newark Express. Marsha Blount and Jacqueline Halyard are co-owners of the team...
. He was also the player/coach of the short-lived Winnipeg Cyclone
Winnipeg Cyclone
The Winnipeg Cyclone was a professional basketball club based in Winnipeg, Manitoba that competed in the International Basketball Association beginning in the 1995-1996 season...
.
He was the head coach of the Allentown, Pennsylvania
Allentown, Pennsylvania
Allentown is a city located in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. It is Pennsylvania's third most populous city, after Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, and the 215th largest city in the United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 118,032 and is currently...
-based Pennsylvania ValleyDawgs
Pennsylvania ValleyDawgs
The Pennsylvania ValleyDawgs was a United States Basketball League team located in Whitehall Township, Pennsylvania, in the Lehigh Valley region of the state. It operated from 1999 to 2006....
of the United States Basketball League
United States Basketball League
The United States Basketball League , often abbreviated to the USBL, was a professional men's spring basketball league. The league was formed in 1985. The final champions are the Kansas Cagerz, who won the title game on July 1, 2007.-History:...
until they folded.
On August 20, 2009, Lehigh Carbon Community College (located in Schnecksville, PA) announced that Dawkins would be the head coach of their men's basketball team for the upcoming 2009-2010 season.
Personal
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 ErvingJulius Erving
Julius Winfield Erving II , commonly known by the nickname Dr. J, is a retired American basketball player who helped launch a modern style of play that emphasizes leaping and play above the rim....
, and his off-the-court experiences with drugs, parties and women.
Darryl Dawkins was briefly married to Kelly Barnes of Trenton, New Jersey. Kelly Barnes Dawkins committed suicide on November 1, 1987 back home in New Jersey. Dawkins was on the road with the team at the time. (The New York Times, November 8, 1987). He is currently married to his wife Janice and they have 4 kids, including one daughter with Down syndrome
Down syndrome
Down syndrome, or Down's syndrome, trisomy 21, is a chromosomal condition caused by the presence of all or part of an extra 21st chromosome. It is named after John Langdon Down, the British physician who described the syndrome in 1866. The condition was clinically described earlier in the 19th...
from Janice's previous marriage.
Dawkins appears in NBA Ballers
NBA Ballers
This article is for the original game, for the sequel see NBA Ballers: Phenom.For the PSP version see NBA Ballers: ReboundNBA Ballers is a streetball game which is similar to AND 1 Streetball and gameplay similar to the NBA Jam series. The game features fictional NBA analyst Bob Benson and MC...
and the ESPN NBA 2K video games as a reserve member of the '80s Legends East Team. In 1999, Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...
named Dawkins the "Man of the Millennium" in a "Weekend Update" sketch.
See also
- List of National Basketball Association career playoff blocks leaders
- List of National Basketball Association players with most blocks in a game