Darryl Dawkins: The Charismatic NBA Star from Lovetron

He was not one of the best players to have stepped on a court in the NBA, but one of the most charismatic. And this was seen when on August 27, 2015 in Allentown he died of a heart attack, and at only 58 years old, Darryl Dawkins (1957, Orlando). He never became the star that that body could hide, although anyone who asked him always said that he was an alien from the planet Lovetron.

Without going through college, Dawkins was one of the few people who went directly from high school to the NBAafter his High School stage in Maynard Evans, his hometown. Gene Shuethe coach at that time of Philadelphia 76ersHe was a difficult guy to convince. He didn’t intend to waste a draft pick on a high school kid. Until he came to see him in Jacksonville and dispelled all of his doubts.

From a very young age, Darryl was compared to Wilt Chamberlain. And it was something that the young man from Orlando did not like. He was 18 years old and was an excellent athlete, with a privileged physique that was already decisive in high school. He faced people who were 20 or 30 centimeters shorter than him. He moved well in the zone, jumped and made passes without looking. The basketball was left half hidden by his monstrous hands. “Everyone wanted to compare me to Chamberlain. I have nothing to do with him. I’m just Darryl Dawkins, But that was never enough,” declared.

Darryl Dawkins, Jerome Kersey y Moses Malone

Third parties

He grew up in poverty with his grandmother, his mother and seven siblings. Their father abandoned them. With just turned 18, on May 29, 1975, the Sixers chose whichfifth position in the draft to Dawkins. The grotesque interior signed its first contract of one million dollars for seven years. Obsessed with getting out of poverty, that same summer and after signing his first professional contract, Darryl set out to work at a tire company.

His first two seasons in the NBA were complicated. Something normal, of course. Dawkins was only 18 and 19 years old. But what failed him the most was the work ethic. He was the typical player who went out on the hardwood with gold chains, until the league banned them. He was somewhat lazy and had a hard time training day in and day out. And he quickly earned numerous nicknames according to his way of playing. Sir Slam and Dr. Dunkenstein, among others. But the best known was Chocolate Thunder, put by Stevie Wonder, who frequently attended Sixers games. Dawkins took it the best way: ““If you don’t see me play, how can you give me such a precise nickname that describes me perfectly?”.

Dawkins, a whole box of surprises

Darryl Dawkins loved attention. He was a guy who He loved parties, cars and luxuries.. In keeping with his personality, Dawkins enjoyed himself, laughed in every situation and was rarely seen serious. He had a character, let’s say it, incorrigible. His style was extravagant and unique. That young man suddenly became interested in poetry. The reason was clear: he gave him profits with women, not out of cultural concern. Until a coach tried to change his attitude.

In 1977, Billy Cunningham came to the Sixers bench. Dawkins was already beginning to dominate the NBA boards, with more minutes in play and more than 10 points per game, although he never reached the average of 10 rebounds per game, despite his height of 2.11 and 125 kilos. The coach, who had recently arrived in Philadelphia, timed all of his players, demanding one by one that they go under six minutes to travel a mile. Dawkins took fifteen, more than twice as long as all of his classmates.

He was responsible for the fact that today the rings are retractable. The bustling interior of the Sixers marked their time in the NBA for the brutality with which they attacked the rim, whose glass ended up destroyed. Dawkins silenced the stands by naming his noisy dunks: In Your Face Disgrace, Dunk You Very Much or The Gorilla, among others.

The Philadelphia franchise, yes, lost the two games in which the center broke the board. One of them was done to Bill Robinzine, whose dunk was baptized by Darryl himself as Robinzine Crying, since his rival put his hands to his face, crouched down and ran away. When he learned of Robinzine’s suicide, Dawkins felt guilty. Until Shaquille O’Neal He had good words for him. “He was the father of powerful dunks. AND I was one of his children“he recalled.

Darryl Dawkins did not achieve personal scoring records, rings, or other individual achievements. But he does appear on an incredible list, that of players with the most fouls in the same season. The guy was a personals magnet, anyone who collided with him was thrown away. And the easiest thing, too, was to point out the mistake.

No luck in terms of records

Those Sixers arrived at NBA Finals against Portland (1977) and Lakers (1980 and 1982), but they did not win the ring in any of the three. However, they did win the ring the following year, but Chocolate Thunder was no longer there. Arriving at his new team, the New Jersey Netsbroke the record of an average of 4.8 personals per matchwith a total of 386 fouls in the 1983-84 campaignsurpassing his own record of 379 from a season before. Almost nothing. Moses Malone He took his place in the Sixers.

Orlando’s interior remained average during his seasons with the New Jersey Nets, even with more minutes than expected. However, in 1986 his back problems caused his fitness to decline. He was no longer the dominant player under hoops that he was then. He had surgery a couple of times and was traded, initially, to Utah, and then to the Pistons.

He could only dispute 20 meetings in his last three seasons in the NBA. And fortune in sports once again went against him. He was cut in 1988-89 and, in the next two seasons, the Pistons They achieved two consecutive rings. The thorn was marked by Dawkins who could not participate in achieving the first two championships in the history of the franchise.

Chocolate Thunder went to Italy to enjoy his last years in the world of basketball, before ending up in 1995 in the Harlem Globetrotters. In Europe he dominated despite his physical problems, averaging 21.4 points and 11.4 rebounds in Torino, and 15.2 points and 9 rebounds in Milan.

After remaining depressed for a time due to the suicide of his first wife when they were in divorce proceedings, Kelly Barnes, a little girl was going to change his life. She was Tabitha, the daughter of Janice, his fourth and last wife. She was born with Down syndrome and participated, years later, in the Paralympic Games. He considered her as his own daughter.

Darryl Dawkins, during his time in Milan

Own

He was a father and at the same time a coach in Allentown, the city where his heart stopped on August 27, 2015.

Darryl Dawkins made his mark in the NBA and rose to fame for sending boards flying through the air due to his excessive strength. The league had to adapt his technology and also establish rules and sanctions for those players who broke boards. Chocolate Thunder personified the love of basketball and life, an alien from the planet Lovetron who offered the public things they had never seen before.

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2024-05-11 10:00:00
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