Pacers Celebrate ‘Dr. Dunk’ Darnell Hillman’s 77th Birthday After ABA Championship Legacy

Darnell Hillman turned 77 on Saturday. The Indiana Pacers marked the day with a post on the team's X account.

Hillman was born in Sacramento, California, on Aug. 29, 1949, and he graduated from Hiram W. Johnson High School there. He played college basketball at San Jose State, where he was named first-team All-West Coast Athletic Conference in 1969 after setting a school single-season rebounding record with 327, an average of 14.2 per game. That season he also averaged 15.3 points. In the high jump, he cleared 6 feet 11 1/2 inches, a mark that still ranks 10th on the San Jose State outdoor list. He then spent two years in the Army.

Indiana took Hillman in the second round of a preliminary three-round ABA draft conducted before the league's All-Star Game in January 1971, Mark Montieth wrote. The Golden State Warriors took him eighth overall in the NBA draft roughly nine weeks later. Hillman signed with the Pacers.

He and fellow rookie George McGinnis joined a roster that had won the 1970 ABA championship. Indiana won two more in Hillman's first two seasons, in 1972 and 1973.

Across six seasons with the franchise, Hillman averaged 10.6 points, 8.4 rebounds, and 1.5 assists in 477 games. He started 303 of them and shot 47.6% from the field. He finished with 5,074 points, 3,999 rebounds, 717 assists, and 611 blocked shots for the Pacers.

As a rookie, he came off the bench for 10 points, 18 rebounds, and 10 blocked shots in a win over Florida. The Indianapolis Star headlined its game story "Darnell a Daring Darling as Pacers Win," according to Montieth. Later that season he had 20 points and 21 rebounds against Pittsburgh. His career-high 24 rebounds came against San Diego in the 1972-73 season. He scored 18 points in that game.

Before Game 7 of the 1973 ABA Finals, Pacers coach Bobby Leonard told reporters he planned to start Roger Brown. Brown arrived late at Freedom Hall after driving himself from Indianapolis. Hillman started instead, played 44 minutes, and grabbed 13 rebounds, both team highs, in an 88-81 win over Kentucky.

Two seasons later, Hillman averaged 13.9 points and 9.2 rebounds. Indiana reached the ABA Finals again that spring. His career high of 35 points came against Denver in 1975-76. He had 16 rebounds that night and had scored 32 at Utah earlier in the season.

The Pacers entered the NBA in the June 1976 merger. Hillman played all 82 games that first NBA season and averaged 10.7 points, 8.5 rebounds, and 2.0 assists.

Hillman went by Dr. Dunk. He told Montieth the afro he wore extended 13 1/2 inches from his skull. At the ABA's 1997 reunion, he won the Biggest ABA Afro award.

The NBA held its inaugural slam dunk contest during the 1976-77 season. Hillman won the final at halftime of Game 5 in the 1977 NBA Finals, defeating Golden State's Larry McNeill. At that time, his rights were traded to the New York Nets, but he hadn't signed a contract, so he wore a plain white tank top instead of a team jersey. During the post-event interview, he wore a shirt with "Bottle Shoppe," an Indianapolis liquor store sponsor of the city parks softball team he played left field for. Since the event didn't award a trophy, Hillman only received one in March 2017.

Hillman played for the New Jersey Nets, Denver Nuggets, Kansas City Kings, and Golden State Warriors before retiring in 1980. Over his career, he appeared in 682 regular season games in the ABA and NBA, averaging 9.8 points, 7.6 rebounds, and 1.4 assists per game. His career totals include 6,666 points and 5,187 rebounds.

His first day in the Pacers' community relations department was Dec. 3, 1999, Montieth wrote. In August 2020 he retired, about a month before his 71st birthday, with the title of associate director of camps, clinics and alumni relations. For two decades he ran the franchise's youth camps and clinics. He told Legends Magazine that he opened his camp presentations by jumping and kicking the bottom of the backboard. VisitIndy gave him a ROSE Award in March 2019.

San Jose State retired his No. 45 on Feb. 4, 2012.

This season marks the 60th in Pacers history and the 51st in the NBA. ESPN's preseason forecast has Indiana ninth in the Eastern Conference at 44-38 and in the play-in tournament. The Pacers open the regular season Oct. 21 at New Orleans. The home opener against the Dallas Mavericks comes Oct. 23.