Connie Hawkins

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Hawkins dazzled crowds from playgrounds to arenas with his highflying acrobatic moves.

Cornelius "Connie" Hawkins (born July 17, 1942 in Brooklyn, New York) is a Hall of Fame member, National Basketball Association (NBA) player, 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, throw-down dunks.

Hawkins initially toured the world with the Harlem Globetrotters. Then at age 19, played for the Pittsburgh Rens of the American Basketball League (ABL) and was named the league's Most Valuable Player. 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 7 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 #42 jersey was retired by the Suns.

Connie Hawkins was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1992. He currently works in community relations with the Suns.

[edit] Point-shaving scandal

This does not cite its references or sources.
Please help improve this article by introducing appropriate citations. (help, get involved!) This article has been tagged since June 2006.

Hawkins' career was limited 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, 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 most—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 detectives from the New York City Police Department 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 for a time prohibited from continuing his college career or joining an NBA team. The prohibition was later lifted due to lack of evidence implicating Hawkins.