Connie Hawkins
From Hoopedia
Cornelius L. "Connie" Hawkins (born July 17, 1942, in Brooklyn, New York) is a Hall of Famer, former National Basketball Association (NBA) and American Basketball Association (ABA) player, and New York City playground legend, born in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn. Hawkins was known as one of the first players capable of swooping, soaring flights to the hoop, followed by acrobatic, one-handed, throw-down dunks. Banned from college ball and the NBA because he was implicated in a point-shaving scandal, (though he was never even accused of point shaving), Hawkins toiled in the basketball wilderness until he was 27 and the Phoenix Suns signed him to an NBA contract.
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High School
Connie Hawkins didn't play much at Boys High until his junior year, but two great years of spectacular ball were enough to land him on this list. Hawkins was All-City first team as a junior as Boys went undefeated and won New York's ultra-competitive PSAL (Public School Athletic League) title in 1959. His senior year he averaged 25.5 ppg., including one game in which he scored 60, and Boys again went undefeated and won the 1960 PSAL title.
Hawkins dunked for the first time when he was 11, and was the original flash. "Connie Hawkins was the best I've ever seen in the PSAL," said a former PSAL commissioner who'd witnessed 50 years of New York high school hoops. Added ABA player and coach Larry Brown, "He was Julius before Julius. He was Elgin before Elgin. He was Michael before Michael. He was simply the greatest individual player I have ever seen." He is 6-8 and his playing weight was 215 pounds.
ESPN.com named his to their list of Top 10 High School Athletes of all time.
Point-Shaving Scandal
Hawkins' career was hampered when, as a freshman at the University of Iowa, he was an innocent victim of the hysteria surrounding an infamous NCAA basketball point-shaving scandal, with its origins in New York City. While some of the conspirators and characters involved were known to or knew Hawkins, none, including the New York attorney at the center of the scandal, the infamous Jack Molinas, had ever sought to involve Hawkins in the conspiracy. At the time, college freshmen were not allowed to participate in varsity athletics, thus Hawkins could — at worst — have been only a prospect in future point-shaving efforts by the gamblers.
Hawkins' name surfaced in an interview conducted with an individual who was involved in the scandal. Hawkins was kept from seeking legal counsel while being grilled repeatedly by New York City Police Department detectives who were investigating the scandal. Hawkins' story to the detectives, while at times difficult to follow, never contained any admission of wrongdoing.
Though Hawkins was not arrested or charged, he was expelled from Iowa and banned from playing in the NBA. Hawkins was forced to play for the Globetrotters, in the ABL and ABA, all much less lucrative career options than the NBA. Hawkins filed suit against the NBA, claiming there was no substantial evidence linking him to gambling activities. After several years in court, the NBA settled in 1969 and cleared Hawkins to play.
The Long Journey to the NBA
At age 19 Hawkins found gainful employment in the American Basketball League (ABL), an upstart league whose owners hoped to merge with the NBA. He played for the Pittsburgh Rens, earned league scoring leader honors and was named the league Most Valuable Player. When the ABL folded the next season, Hawkins toured the world with the Harlem Globetrotters and then the Harlem Wizards.
Hawkins joined the Pittsburgh Pipers in the inaugural 1967-68 season of the American Basketball Association, leading the team to a 54-24 regular-season record and the ABA championship. That year, Hawkins led the ABA in scoring and won both the ABA's regular-season and playoff MVP awards.
With Hawkins' star power secured in the ABA, Hawkins then played seven additional seasons in the NBA for the Phoenix Suns, Los Angeles Lakers and Atlanta Hawks. He played in four NBA All-Star Games and was named to the All-NBA First Team in the 1969-70 season. His No. 42 jersey was retired by the Suns.
Connie Hawkins was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1992 as a player. He currently works in community relations with the Suns. The story of his arduous journey to the NBA is chronicled in David Wolf's award-winning biography, Foul! The Connie Hawkins Story.
