Darryl Dawkins, a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame, died Thursday of currently unknown causes, as confirmed by the Lehigh Valley County Coroner's office. On November 3, 1983, Dawkins grabbed what would be his largest rebound total as a Net, with 15 during a 112107 win over the Chicago Bulls. 'Whatever seed we are, we're ready': Is there room for Cleveland among the East elite? The players' association was working on a program that would fund cardiac screening and supplemental health insurance for its retired players. "I'm the lucky one," Haywood said. Dawkins died Thursday in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania hospital. Death. Bucks", "To the New Jersey Nets, there's no place like the road", "1984 NBA Eastern Conference Semifinals Game 6: Milwaukee Bucks at New Jersey Nets", "Utah Gets Dawkins and Turpin in a Three-Team Trade", "Jazz Trade Dawkins For Piston Draft Picks", "When "Chocolate Thunder" wore a Pistons uniform", "NBA's 'Chocolate Thunder' Darryl Dawkins dies at 58", "Magic Set 1st Game Pistons Will Be Foe In Arena On Oct. 13", NBA & ABA Single Season Leaders and Records for Personal Fouls, "Kelly Dawkins' Death Called Apparent Suicide", "Darryl Dawkins: To Lehigh Carbon Community College, by way of Planet Lovetron", "People of all levels remember 76ers legend Darryl Dawkins at viewing", Career Statistics at basketball-reference.com, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Darryl_Dawkins&oldid=1136782345, American Basketball Association (2000present) coaches, American expatriate basketball people in Italy, National Basketball Association high school draftees, Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball), Participants in American reality television series, Sportspeople from Allentown, Pennsylvania, 20th-century African-American sportspeople, Articles with unsourced statements from April 2018, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 1 February 2023, at 03:03. Darryl Dawkins, known to fans as 'Chocolate Thunder,' dies at age 58 Darryl Dawkins (Basketball Player-coach) Wiki, Biography, Age, Wife Following his NBA career, Dawkins had a brief stint with the Harlem Globetrotters, followed by a season spent with the Sioux Falls Skyforce of the Continental Basketball Association in the 199596 season. Dr. A's weekly risers and fallers: Jeremy Sochan, Christian Wood make the list, NBA Power Rankings: Kevin Durant's return could rock the West, What NBA Finals runs from LeBron, Giannis can teach Jayson Tatum, They said it! Dawkins grew up in Orlando, Florida and made history as the first player to be drafted to the NBA directly out of high school, after applying for the 1975 Draft as a financial hardship case (a 1971 Supreme Court decision allowed players to go pro without waiting the league-mandated four years after graduating high school, provided they could give evidence of hardship). "I think both Adam and I feel the urgency. After Philadelphia won the next two games, the Nets won a decisive game 5 when Dawkins' defense on reigning MVP Moses Malone helped New Jersey overcome a late deficit to win their first playoff series. There will never be another Chocolate Thunder. Because his condition was detected early, Haywood said, he's expected to enjoy a full recovery. That's per diem money.' 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. But the fans could not get enough. Others were comparatively subtle even if they seemed just as ridiculous. Lanier believes those concerns can be rectified with the support of the current union leadership. Darryl Dawkins, the first high school player to go straight to the National Basketball Association when he was drafted by the Philadelphia 76ers in 1975, died Thursday at a hospital in Allentown, Pa. It took the arena crew over an hour to clean everything up and bring out a whole new basket support. The deaths of Darryl Dawkins and Moses Malone raised red flags in league offices and among retirees, but specialists dismiss fears of higher risks for NBA players. "When I heard about Darryl, I thought, 'That's not supposed to happen,' Roberts said. Jerome J Labanz (1931-2002) *71, Grave #21849131 - Sysoon Love you so much and going to miss you so much.. The Lehigh County coroner's office announced that an autopsy would be performed on August 27; but according to a statement released by Dawkins' family, the cause of death was a heart attack. I can't tell you why that is. So he convinced the announcer in Philadelphia to say that Dawkins was from the Planet Lovetron, wherein the offseason he would engage in interplanetary funkmanship. Ahh, you can not make this stuff up. His two ferocious dunks in 1979 caused the league to switch over. He then played a little bit of minor league basketball in some leagues that do not even exist anymore. Darryl Dawkins was born on 11 January, 1957 in Orlando, Florida, United States, is an American basketball player-coach. Darryl Dawkins, the first NBA player ever to be drafted straight out of high school and a flamboyant personality and showman dunker, died at the age of 58, according to multiple reports. 5 in the 1975 draft by the 76ers. but according to a statement released by Dawkins' family, the cause of death was a heart attack. Known for shattering two glass backboards in 1979 with explosive dunks, Dawkins, who got his nickname from musical great Stevie Wonder, averaged 12 points, 6.1 assists and 1.4 blocks per game . MacMullan: Deaths of Dawkins, Malone raise health concerns for NBA retirees, Owner: Snyder, Fields will bring Hawks success, Isaac has surgery on adductor, done for season, Clips' Powell out at least a week to treat shoulder, Kyrie teams with Luka for 82: 'Had to join party', LeBron to have tendon injury checked in 3 weeks. Rest easy OG. And Last September, former Sixer Caldwell . He went to college first and joined the NBA four years later. NBA Star Darryl Dawkins Died at 58 - inside Circumstances of His Sudden Death. darryl dawkins - lehighvalleylive.com Dawkins played up his otherworldly abilities by claiming to hail from Planet Lovetron, where he spent the offseason practicing interplanetary funkmanship.. He claimed to have come from a planet called Lovetron and called named himself Chocolate Thunder, claiming the nickname was given him by Stevie Wonder. Darryl Dawkins, seen here at the 2013 NBA All-Star Celebrity Game, died Thursday at age 58. "We had some great conversations," Silver said. Frustrated with the team's inability to handle Lakers center Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Sixers management traded Dawkins to the New Jersey Nets and Caldwell Jones to the Houston Rockets for Moses Malone, who helped Philadelphia win the NBA championship the following year. He also had a similar necklace that has another nickname "Dr. Dunk" in gold script. And Ill get to that in a moment. Darryl Dawkins, NBA dunk legend, passes away at 58 - CBC Darryl Dawkins was once summoned in the Philadelphia 76ers' locker room to come meet a celebrity who wanted to meet the man known for dunking with backboard-breaking force. Dawkins died on August 27, 2015, in Allentown, Pennsylvania, at the age of 58. That fateful year saw the deaths of Moses Malone, Dolph Schayes, Daryl Dawkins, Rod "Hot Rod" Hundley, Earl Lloyd, Roy Tarpley, Anthony Mason, Jerome Kersey, Harry . "LeBron said to me, '$50,000? "A great man, entertainer, athlete and ferocious dunker," former NBA guard Kevin Johnson wrote on Twitter in tribute to Dawkins. Turkey-Syria earthquakes death toll passes 5,000 . Most of our guys do not. These new rims had a spring and a hinge in them so that when someone dunks really hard the rim bends from the force of the dunk and then snaps back into position as soon as the player lets go. The rim was just sitting on the floor with pieces of glass all around. ", There's a surprisingly large population of ex-players, Haywood said, who refuse to go to the doctor because "they're afraid of what they'll find out.''. Chocolate Thunder has gone back to Lovetron. You were one of my favorite players of all time. Players scattered in every direction to get away. He only played six games in the 198687 season, after a second back surgery in less than two years. On Thursday afternoon his family released a statement about his passing: "It is with great sadness that we share the passing of our beloved husband and father, Darryl Dawkins, who succumbed today to a heart attack. He will be missed but not forgotten. A spokesperson for Lehigh Valley . O'Keefe acknowledged that larger, huskier people do experience "some added cardiac risk," but that can be combatted, he said, with a "healthy heart lifestyle" and regular screening. "If you are a big dog, you don't live as long as a little dog, but I'm not convinced that's how it works with humans. Dr. Alfred Bove, physician emeritus at Temple University School of Medicine and a former Philadelphia 76ers team doctor, dismissed the notion that NBA stars are at higher risk for cardiac-related deaths than the general population. Injuries plagued Dawkins late in his NBA career, and he went overseas for several years to play in the Italian league. "I said, 'C'mon now, I'm not on 'Ballers.' But his most famous nickname was actually given to him by Stevie Wonder, and that nickname is Chocolate Thunder. There you will see several highlight clips. The guest was Grammy Award winner Stevie Wonder. List of National Basketball Association career playoff blocks leaders, List of National Basketball Association players with most blocks in a game, "Stevie Wonder gave Darryl Dawkins his 'Chocolate Thunder' nickname", "A Game Played Above the Rim, Above All Else", "Dawkins Does Not Regret Heading To Nba 25 Years Ago He Left Maynard Evans High School In 1975 To Help His Family Make It Through Financial Difficulties", "Why Pros Spent 20 Years Shunning High Schoolers", "Philadelphia 76ers at New Jersey Nets Box Score, November 5, 1983", "Nets Franchise Single Game Record Blocks", "For the 76ers, it was almost a Net loss", "To the New Jersey Nets, there's no place like", "Mavericks defeat Lakers - 2011 (Western Conference semifinals) - Greatest NBA Playoff Upsets - Photos - SI.com", "1984 NBA Eastern Conference Semifinals Nets vs. 2 men found drugged after leaving NYC gay bars were killed, medical examiner says. (Reuters) - Former National Basketball Association star Darryl Dawkins, known as "Chocolate Thunder" for his powerful dunks and flamboyant play, died at 58 on Thursday. [3], In a surprise move, Dawkins opted to directly enter the NBA draft out of high school instead of attending college. Dubs' Curry (leg) could return as soon as Sun. His two backboard-shattering dunks came about a month apart early in the 1979-80 season, one against Kansas City, the other against San . Chocolate Thunder, Double D, Dawk, Dr. Dunk, Sir Slam, Zandokan the Mad Dunker, Dunk You Very Much, Candy Slam, Sweet D, Big Dawk, Master of Disaster, Squawkin' Dawkin, Double D Dunk, Sir Dunk, Dunk It, Pure Pleasure, Cool Breeze, Dr. Jam, Demon of Destin are nicknames for Darryl Dawkins.