Straight from an Orlando high school to the 1975 draft, the first player ever taken by the NBA out of high school, Dawkins signed with Philadelphia determined to lift his family out of poverty. Stevie Wonder named him Chocolate Thunder, and the dunks earned it: two shattered backboards in 1979 forced the league to adopt breakaway rims. He reached three NBA Finals, had his best scoring years with the Nets, and finished with brief stops in Utah in 1987-88 and Detroit.
Along the way he set an NBA record with 386 fouls in a season and averaged double-figure scoring nine times in 14 years. Dawkins later turned to coaching and died in August 2015 at 58.
HOW HE CAME & WENTHe landed in Utah in a seven-player, three-team trade in October 1987 and lasted four games before the Jazz shipped him to Detroit for two second-round picks and cash.
No photograph of this signature is online yet.
| SEASON | TEAM | G | MPG | PPG | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1987–88 | UTA | 4 | 6.5 | 1.5 | 1.3 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.3 | .143 | — | .333 |
| JAZZ TOTAL | 1 SEASON | 4 | 6.5 | 1.5 | 1.2 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.2 | .143 | — | .333 |
Season by season, regular season, with this franchise only. More info: Basketball-Reference ↗ · Wikipedia ↗