Six-foot-eight NBA Superstar legend Connie Hawkins, one of the first basketball players capable of swooping and soaring in flights to the hoop, was born Cornelius Lance Hawkins on July 17, 1942, in Brooklyn, New York. A playground legend, he was dunking at the age of 11, inspired and encouraged by his blind mother, Dorothy Hawkins, and his father, Isaiah Hawkins. Connie had an older brother, Earl Hawkins, and a younger brother, Fred Hawkins.
Hawkins attended Boys High School in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood in Brooklyn, where he played on its basketball team. In 1960, he averaged an impressive 25.5 points per game, and he once scored 60 points in a single game. Boys High went undefeated that season and won the Public Schools Athletic League (PSAL) championship. In 1960, Hawkins was a Parade magazine High School All-American, an indication of his exceptional skills and dedication.
After graduating from high school, Hawkins enrolled at the University of Iowa in Iowa City and was awarded a scholarship. He had never played ball in Iowa, however, and his academic career was short-lived. Hawkens was falsely accused of point shaving and was barred from both collegiate basketball and any future career in the National Basketball Association (NBA).
In 1961, at 19, Hawkins played a season for the Pittsburgh Rens of the American Basketball League (ABL). He was named the league’s “Most Valuable Player” after averaging 26.8 points, 13.5 rebounds, and 4.6 assists. From 1963 to 1967, Hawkins played with the Harlem Globetrotters, a famous exhibition basketball team whose performances included athleticism and theater.
During the inaugural 1967-68 season of the American Basketball Association (ABA) as a rival to the NBA, Hawkins played 70 games for the Pittsburgh Pipers, leading the team to a 54–24 regular season record and the 1968 ABA championship, scoring 30.2 with 11.4 boards.
In 1969, Hawkins received a $1.3M settlement from the NBA after his 1968–69 season. The payment was in response to a lawsuit that accused NBA owners of barring him from the league for gambling charges that were never proven. The ban on Hawkins playing in the NBA was lifted in 1969 by Commissioner James Walter Kennedy, and Hawkins signed with the Phoenix Suns.
During the 1969-1970 season, Hawkins played 81 games with the Phoenix Suns, averaging 24.6 points and 9.1 rebounds, sixth in the NBA. His scoring average led the Suns, who at the time had two other 20-point scorers, Dick Van Arsdale and Gail Goodrich. Hawkins also hauled in 10.4 rebounds per contest and gave out 391 assists, nearly five per game.
Hawkins was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers as a spot player in 1974 but still averaging 8.0 points per game. He then played with the Atlanta Hawks in 1975-76, contributing an average of 8.2 points per game.
In 1975, Hawkins retired at age 33, and the Suns retired his number 42. In 1992, Hawkins, an NBA All-Star for four straight seasons, was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, the American History Museum, and the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts. In addition, the Suns hired him as a community ambassador.
Connie “The Hawk” Hawkins, who revolutionized the game of basketball, died of colon cancer on October 6, 2017, in Phoenix, Arizona. He was 75 and left behind two sons.
