As one of the first-ever preps-to-pros draftees, and a monster of size and athleticism, enormous expectations were heaped upon Darryl Dawkins when the 76ers selected him with the 5th pick in the 1975 draft. Dawkins never really lived up to those expectations--he had a solid career of averaging 12 points and six rebounds, and even played on a couple Sixers finals teams, but he never showed the dominance people anticipated. Except in one respect: Slam Dunks. (Well, two if you count personal fouls, where Dawkins led the league three times and holds the single-season all-time record).
Dawkins rim-rocking slams were always cause for celebration, but perhaps none moreso than the one he threw down on the Kansas City Kings on November 13, 1979. The dunk, which posterized the otherwise-little-known Kings swingman swingman Bill Robinzine, shattered the backboard, in an unprecedented display of hoops ownage. Dawkins, never one to shy away from a good appelation, nicknamed the dunk "The Chocolate-Thunder-Flying, Robinzine-Crying, Teeth-Shaking,
Glass-Breaking, Rump-Roasting, Bun-Toasting, Wham-Bam,
Glass-Breaker-I-Am-Jam."
Amazingly, the dunk was not even the last backboard-breaker that Chocolate Thunder would throw down that calendar year. Three weeks later, in a game against the Spurs at the Spectrum, Dawkins offered a repeat perforrmance. Shortly after, commissioner Larry O'Brien decided he'd seen enough, instituting an automatic technical foul and $100 fine for the next man to rip down the glass. "It could be I just don't know my own strength," claimed the repeat offender. "I may have to try and dunk with a little less authority."
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