And that brings me to what I will perhaps remember most about Darryl.
Darryl Dawkins was once requested to meet a celebrity in his locker room whose dunking was becoming popular for their enormous force. He was well respected by his peers, and his style of play was entertaining which represented a fundamental shift in the NBA toward more of the exciting style of basketball we see in the modern professional game.
While the legendary basketball player was known for his electrifying dunks and infectious smile, in the footwear world he was known for for something else – switching out of his Nike sneakers midgame for a pair of Ponys. His family, wife Janice, children Dara, Tabitha, Nicholas and Alexis, along with countless family, friends, and fans, all mourn his loss.
I am honored to have called Darryl Dawkins a friend.
With a sculpted physique, inordinate power and an unusually correct bounce shot for a person his measurement, Mr. Dawkins was additionally mischievous and flamboyant – he was recognized to put on an electrical lime-green go well with – and keen on rhyming and hyperbolic fantasy musings.
As for his career and legacy as the first high school-to-NBA player, Dawkins once said, “I don’t regret anything”. “So a guy who never saw me can give me that name and I think I can wear it well”.
Dawkins nicknamed it the “If You Ain’t Groovin’ Best Get Movin’, Chocolate Thunder Flyin’, Robinzine Cryin’, Teeth Shakin’, Glass Breakin’, Rump Roastin’, Bun Toastin’, Wham Bam Glass Breaker I Am Jam!” Moreover, he had an average of 12 points and 6.1 rebounds from 728 National Basketball Association outings.
During that 1979-80 season, Dawkins also had one of his most signature moments.
He appeared in the National Basketball Association Finals with Philadelphia in 1977, 1980, and 1982. But his flamboyance continued long after his playing days ended, as Dawkins’ always-approachable personality and loud suits – from neon green to electric yellow – dazzled crowds with delight at ValleyDawgs games. Rest in peace, Big Man. You will be VERY missed. It was clear that he was as much a project as a prospect, but in time he became part of a serviceable center tandem with Caldwell Jones, who joined the 76ers in Dawkins’ second season. He was a giant man and a gentleman with a mind so creative that he was able to invent a fictional planet and write poetry that described the otherworldly strength he used to shatter two fiberglass backboards in a little less than a month. It also led to the league’s 1981 adoption of breakaway rims. And to be fair, anyone who names one of his dunks the “Turbo Sexophonic Delight” deserves to be an Internet superstar. He retired from basketball in 2000 after several coaching stints in the minor league and college levels. He played 14 seasons for the 76ers, New Jersey Nets, Utah Jazz, and Detroit Pistons, according to an article released by ABC News on Thursday.