42 Facts About Darryl Dawkins

Darryl R Dawkins was an American professional basketball player and coach.

Darryl Dawkins was particularly known for his tenure with the National Basketball Association's Philadelphia 76ers and New Jersey Nets, although he played briefly for the Detroit Pistons and Utah Jazz late in his career.

Darryl Dawkins was known for his powerful dunks, which led to the NBA adopting breakaway rims due to him shattering a backboard on two occasions in 1979.

Darryl Dawkins played in the NBA Finals three times as a member of the Philadelphia 76ers in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

Darryl Dawkins won an NBA Championship in 1989 with the Detroit Pistons even though he only played 14 games for the team that season.

Darryl Dawkins set an NBA record for fouls in a season.

Darryl Dawkins was born in Orlando, Florida, on January 11,1957, to Harriet James and Frank Darryl Dawkins.

Darryl Dawkins was heavily recruited by Division I colleges across the country, and he narrowed his choices to Florida State, Kansas, and Kentucky.

Darryl Dawkins opted to directly enter the NBA draft out of high school instead of attending college.

Darryl Dawkins made this decision because he wanted to make enough money to help his grandmother, mother, and siblings to escape poverty.

Darryl Dawkins was the first player to enter the NBA immediately after high school.

Darryl Dawkins was drafted behind David Thompson, David Meyers, Marvin Webster, and Alvan Adams.

Darryl Dawkins languished on the Sixers' bench for his first two seasons.

Darryl Dawkins took his anger out on the 76ers locker room by tearing a toilet out of the wall and dislodging a locker stall and barricading the door with it.

At 20 years old, Darryl Dawkins averaged 11.7 points and 7.9 rebounds in nearly 25 minutes per game, while ranked second in the league in field goal percentage at.

Darryl Dawkins was traded to the Nets during the 1982 off-season in exchange for a first-round draft pick.

At age 25, Darryl Dawkins joined a Nets club that included Albert King, Buck Williams, and Otis Birdsong.

Two days later, on November 5,1983, Darryl Dawkins set the Nets' franchise record for blocks in a single game, with 13.

Darryl Dawkins appeared to return to form the following season averaging 15.3 points and shooting.

Darryl Dawkins was traded to the Utah Jazz in a seven-player, three-team trade during the 1987 offseason.

Darryl Dawkins' personality was a natural fit on the "Bad Boys" Pistons team, and despite being limited to 14 games over two seasons, he was considered to be one of the leaders of the team.

Darryl Dawkins was often inactive for games as he was still recovering from his back injuries and dealing with the death of his estranged wife.

Darryl Dawkins received a training camp invitation from the Orlando Magic for their inaugural season in 1989, but he opted to play in Italy.

Darryl Dawkins spent several seasons in Italy, playing for Torino, Olimpia Milano and Telemarket Forli.

Darryl Dawkins attempted a comeback in 1994, attending Denver Nuggets training camp, and again in 1995 with the Boston Celtics.

Darryl Dawkins committed one more personal foul during his career than Michael Jordan, despite playing nearly 350 fewer games.

Darryl Dawkins had a similar necklace that has another nickname "Dr Dunk" in gold script.

Sometimes, Darryl Dawkins would shave his head and have it oiled along with wearing an earring.

At one point, Darryl Dawkins claimed to be an alien from the planet Lovetron, where he spent the off-season practicing "interplanetary funkmanship" where his girlfriend Juicy Lucy lived.

Darryl Dawkins was the head coach of the American Basketball Association's Newark Express.

Darryl Dawkins averaged 3.8 points and 3.9 rebounds in 18 games played with the Cyclone.

Darryl Dawkins was the head coach of the Allentown, Pennsylvania-based Pennsylvania ValleyDawgs of the United States Basketball League until they folded.

Darryl Dawkins was selected as the USBL Coach of the Year in 1999.

Darryl Dawkins appeared in one game with ValleyDawgs during the 2000 season.

Darryl Dawkins served in that role from 2009 to 2011.

In 1989, Darryl Dawkins appeared as himself in the documentary The Big Bang.

Darryl Dawkins appears in NBA Ballers and the NBA 2K video games as a reserve member of the 1980s Legends East Team.

In 2005, Darryl Dawkins was one of several former NBA players to audition for an analyst position with ESPN, as part of the network's reality series Dream Job.

In September 1986, Darryl Dawkins eloped with Kelly Barnes of Trenton, New Jersey.

In 1988, Darryl Dawkins married a former Nets cheerleader, Robbin Thornton; they divorced after 10 years.

Darryl Dawkins later remarried; he and his wife, Janice, had three children: Nick, Alexis, and Tabitha, a daughter from Janice's previous relationship who has Down syndrome.

Darryl Dawkins died on August 27,2015, in Allentown, Pennsylvania, at the age of 58.