Darryl Dawkins was known for his thunderous dunks, cool attitude
Everybody called Darryl Dawkins “Chocolate Thunder,” but it was Stevie Wonder who called him that first. Stevie gave Dawkins that nickname, and how cool is that?
Darryl Dawkins, whose death on Thursday was reported by several media sources, was so cool he used to nickname his thunderous slam dunks.
His most famous one occurred on Nov. 11, 1979, at Kemper Arena in Kansas City, when Thunder was rattling rims for the 76ers. It shattered a regulation NBA backboard, which had never been done before. It sent Bill Robinzine of the Kings ducking for cover.
He called that one “The Chocolate-Thunder-Flying, Robinzine-Crying, Teeth-Shaking, Glass-Breaking, Rump-Roasting, Bun-Toasting, Wham-Bam, Glass-Breaker-I-Am-Jam.”
Dawkins said he came from Planet Lovetron, had a girlfriend named Juicy Lucy, rode around all day on magic carpets that ran on funk oil.
He said these things long before there was social media.
Darryl Dawkins was born one day before I was. I suppose some people would say that made us contemporaries.
Not a chance. Darryl Dawkins was just so damn cool. With or without the funk oil.
Las Vegas Review-Journal sports columnist Ron Kantowski can be reached at rkantowski@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0352. Follow him on Twitter: @ronkantowski
