Sixers Press Releases

Darryl Dawkins Conference Call Transcript

On his best memory from his playing days at the Spectrum
"Being a young guy, a country kid from Florida and coming to Philadelphia and seeing the fans all screaming it was mind blowing and special when they started cheering for me. I really did enjoy that."

On breaking a back board and tearing a part a locker room at the Spectrum after a loss to Portland
"I caused a lot of damage in there. One night, me and my brothers got in a fight down there and it was because of (Portland forward) Maurice Lucas, but none of us ever got to him. I was pretty mad. I was in the locker room and caused some major league destruction. I tore something off the wall and there was water floating everywhere. Guys were coming into the locker room and they had their shoes floating around. I was so mad they wouldn’t bother me. They said ‘he’s too mad don’t bother with him man.' Each one of them took turns talking to me a week or two after that; 'I was upset with you man', well I was upset with everybody. But yeah, I’m part of the reason for the destruction down there."

On barring his teammates from coming into the locker room after that incident
"You know, you get into a scrum down there with guys in the trenches you work with and you want everybody in the trenches with you. I probably did block the door until I was dressed and ready to go. Boy I was out of my mind, but I had a good time down there."

On if he’s sad to see the Spectrum go
"Absolutely, I went to a Rick James concert down there working with Harvey Pollock. And I cannot forget my brother World B. Free! We played one-on-one every day before and after practice. There were some great people down there. To see it come down after being there so long, it’s hard to see. You can’t stand in the way of technology but it is hard to see. To see it as even one of the smaller buildings now is even harder. Remember, I came from Florida man."

On his fondest memory of the Spectrum
"My best memory was when they started cheering my name, 'Dawkins Dawkins Dawkins! I was like. 'I’ve arrived, I’m big time now. Big Daddy’s on the beach.'"

On his most memorable game at the Spectrum
"I think we got into a game with the (New York) Knicks and the Knicks had a lot of guys such as The Pearl (Earl Monroe) Walt Frazier and Spencer Haywood and I managed to block two shots on one play and the crowd went crazy and then I went down and got a monster dunk so the crowd was going crazy and I was going crazy with them. I went home and could hardly go to sleep that night."

On what his first trip to the Spectrum was like
"The first time I was there I was taken by Jeff Millman (Sixers basketball operations). He just walked me in and he said, ‘it gets cold up here around November and December and that you better get a coat.' I walked in and saw all those chairs; I was like 'this is where we play? I’m going to be an ant down there.' Of course I would never be an ant; I would be an army of ants. It was something to see."

On feeding off the energy of the crowd
"When I walked in, I always tried to feed off the energy. World B. Free always told me, 'when you go in there you either do it big or you don’t do it.'"

On how loud it got in the Spectrum compared to other arenas
"It (the crowd and noise) would be right in your pocket. It would be so loud in there you would be running back down the floor giving everybody a high five. It would be off the charts right there in the Spectrum. The floor would vibrate, that’s what it would feel like."

On the new and bigger arenas taking away the energy of the game
"You can’t stand in the way of technology but it is lost a little bit. But that’s the way it goes. People can’t run down on the floor and give you hugs or anything like that after a big playoff game or a game you had 30 points with eight or nine blocks. People can’t get down to you now, security is different and that is lost a little bit."