DARRYL DAWKINS

       


Dawkins averaged double figures in scoring nine times in his 14 years in the NBA, often ranking among the league leaders in field-goal percentage. He also played in the NBA finals three times as a member of the Philadelphia 76ers in the late 1970's and early 1980's.

In a game against the Kansas City Kings in November 1979 Dawkins threw down such a massive dunk that the backboard shattered into a thousand tiny shards, sending the Kings’ Bill Robinzine ducking for cover and amazing a nation of fans. Three weeks later he did it again. A few days after that the NBA ruled that breaking a backboard was an offense that would result in a fine and suspension.

In  the 1980-81 season Dawkins’s rim-rocking antics produced a .607 field-goal percentage, second in the NBA to Artis Gilmore's 670. Dawkins averaged 14.0 points and 7.2 rebounds for the year, but Philadelphia failed to return to the Finals. The club met the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals and lost in seven games.