Darryl Dawkins passed away Thursday, August 27th
from a heart attack. Darryl, known to
many for his prolific and powerful dunks was a unique player on and off the
court. He has a legacy that gets
overlooked by history due to him never meeting the expectations of his 5th
overall selection in the 1975 NBA Draft.
Darryl Dawkins changed the game of Professional Basketball and a
generation of future players had the road paved by him:
1. Dawkins’ Dunks forced the NBA and other leagues to
install new backboards
Darryl Dawkins famously (or infamously if you had to be a
part of the cleanup crew) broke numerous backboards during his career,
shattering glass with the strength of his dunks. While he was not the first powerful dunker in
the NBA, many of the big men of the 1960’s and 1970’s had to hone their skills
without dunking. This was because of
Wilt Chamberlain. While at University of Kansas Wilt was so dominant that the
NCAA made it illegal to dunk in an effort to neutralize Wilt’s dominance. But Darryl Dawkins never went to college, so
he never learned at a young age how to combine finesse with power like Kareem
Abdul-Jabbar, Bill Walton, and Elvin Hayes did.
Today we have breakaway rims and the backboards are no
longer made of pure glass, instead are shatter-resistant. Both of these changes can be directly traced
back to Darryl Dawkins breaking backboards during his playing days.
2. Dawkins was the First Player to be drafted straight out
of High School by the NBA
In 1975, Darryl Dawkins forfeited his amateur status and
applied to be eligible for the 1975 NBA Draft under the Hardship Clause. Following in the footsteps of Moses Malone
(who did the same and was drafted by the rival Pro Basketball organization, the
ABA), the NBA accepted the application.
When the Philadelphia 76ers selected Darryl, he was anointed by many as
“The Next Wilt Chamberlain”. These high
expectations led to him having an inflated ego; still a young adult who was not
even 20 years old yet playing in a league of men. Darryl opened the doors for future high
school athletes to believe forgoing college was a viable option. Yet the NBA and its teams would cautious
moving forward about selecting high school players due to his immaturity and inconsistent
ability to handle life as a professional ball player.
3. Dawkins’ personality paved the way for future NBA Stars
During his playing career, Darryl Dawkins was known to be
eccentric and let his personality come through everything he did. He would have nicknames for his dunks, he
would not be reserved during interviews and would have fun with reporters. In fact, his nickname “Chocolate Thunder” was
given to him by Stevie Wonder, a man who never saw him play! This style of personality expressed on and
off the court allowed for future big men to be less reserved and more
personality driven. Without Darryl Dawkins
paving the way, it’s hard to know if the NBA as a whole would have been so
accepting of talented characters such as Shaquille O’Neal and John Salley. From now on, because of Darryl, it was
acceptable for players to have more than great talent. Having personality
became fun and cool.
Darryl Dawkins is not in the Basketball Hall of Fame, but
his impact on the game goes far beyond wins and statistics. He changed how fans and the media view
athletes. He changed how NBA team management evaluated players, and how going
from high school directly to the pro game could work. We tend to forget that Kobe Bryant, Kevin
Garnett, Dwight Howard, and LeBron James all never played college basketball;
these superstars of the NBA all went straight to the pro game from High School
thanks to Darryl Dawkins being a pioneer of what is possible.
