NBA Great Darryl Dawkins passes away; News and Details here!

Darryl Dawkins, best known for his thunderous dunks that included shattering a backboard back in 1979 has reportedly died. He was 58.

According to TMZ Sports, the man nicknamed Chocolate Thunder, a family member had reportedly called 911 and that Dawkins was brought to a nearby hospital.

The NBA legend was however unable to recover and pronounced dead at 11:19 a.m. The cause of death remains unknown for now.

In the same report, there was nothing suspicious surrounding his sudden death and that there was no indication of foul play. An autopsy is set to be scheduled tomorrow.

Dawkins was the first player to be drafted out of high school back in the 1975 NBA Draft. He was only 18 years old and was drafted fifth overall that year.

He was known as one of the best dunkers of his time but his most notorious dunk was a game against the Kansas City Kings held at the Kember Arena in November 11, 1979. Just three weeks after that incident, he shattered another backboard at the Spectrum in a game against the San Antonio Spurs.

After spending his first seven years with the Philadelphia 76ers (1975-82), Dawkins also had stints with the New Jersey Nets (1982-87), Utah Jazz (1987) and the Detroit Pistons (1987-89). Dawkins was also a member of the Harlem Globetrotters from1994-95.