From the City of Brotherly Love to Lovetron, the basketball world mourned the loss of Darryl Dawkins on Thursday. The gentle giant was one of the most colorful people to ever play the game. From his backboard-shattering slams to his poetic dunk-naming, Dawkins was as entertaining as they come. He was 58.
So where did he get the nickname, “Chocolate Thunder?”
Dawkins told the story to Dime Magazine in 2011.
Dime: How did the nickname Chocolate Thunder originate? DD: Stevie Wonder used to come the ball games and they would have a guy sitting with him. And the guy would be holding on to his arm, telling him what’s going on, and he would say, Hey, the big chocolate guy just put down a thunder dunk. The chocolate guy with another monster dunk. And Stevie Wonder actually gave me the nickname Chocolate Thunder. So a guy who never saw me can give me that name. I think I can wear that well. I don’t even know if he remembers, it’s been so long, but I’ll keep that.
