Cornelius Lance "Connie" Hawkins was an American professional basketball player.
16 Facts About Connie Hawkins
2.
Connie Hawkins soon became a fixture at Rucker Park, a legendary outdoor court where he battled against some of the best players in the world.
3.
Connie Hawkins did not play much until his junior year at Boys High.
4.
Connie Hawkins was All-City first team as a junior as Boys went undefeated and won New York's Public Schools Athletic League title in 1959.
5.
Connie Hawkins then signed a scholarship offer to play at the University of Iowa.
6.
Connie Hawkins' name surfaced in an interview conducted with an individual who was involved in the scandal.
7.
Connie Hawkins had borrowed $200 from Molinas for school expenses, which his brother Fred repaid before the scandal broke in 1961.
8.
Connie Hawkins was effectively blackballed from the college ranks as no NCAA or NAIA school would offer him a scholarship.
9.
Connie Hawkins went undrafted in 1965 as well before being formally banned from the league in 1966.
10.
Connie Hawkins's lawyers suggested that he participate in the new American Basketball Association as a way to establish his talent level as adequate to participate in the NBA, as well as an immediate source of income.
11.
Connie Hawkins led the ABA in scoring that year and won both the ABA's regular season and playoff MVP awards.
12.
Connie Hawkins would be assigned to the Suns as a result of them winning a coin toss over the Seattle SuperSonics.
13.
In 1969, still recovering from knee surgery in his final ABA season, Connie Hawkins hit the ground running with the Phoenix Suns, when he played 81 games and averaged 24.6 points, 10.4 rebounds and 4.8 assists per game.
14.
The Suns finished third in the Western Conference, and in the 1970 NBA playoffs they were knocked out by the Los Angeles Lakers in a seven-game Western Conference Semifinals series in which Connie Hawkins carried the Suns against a team that had future Hall of Famers Wilt Chamberlain, Elgin Baylor and Jerry West.
15.
Connie Hawkins was the grandfather of Shawn Hawkins, who played professional basketball internationally and was a two-time scoring champion in Taiwan's Super Basketball League.
16.
Connie Hawkins retired in Phoenix, Arizona and worked in community relations for the Suns for many years until his death on October 6,2017 at the age of 75 from cancer, no other cause was given.