32 Facts About Connie Hawkins

Cornelius Lance "Connie" Hawkins was an American professional basketball player.

Connie Hawkins played four years for the famed exhibition team Harlem Globetrotters before getting to play in the American Basketball Association with the Pittsburgh Pipers in 1967.

Connie Hawkins won the first league MVP award by averaging 26.8 points and led the team to the ABA championship.

In eleven seasons of professional basketball, Connie Hawkins was an All-Star six times while being named a First Team player in each of the three leagues he played in.

Connie Hawkins was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1992.

Connie Hawkins was born on July 17,1942, in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn.

Connie Hawkins was one of six children, whose father left the family when he was 10; supported by a mother who worked as a cook while suffering from glaucoma.

Connie Hawkins attended Boys High School, and played for coach Mickey Fisher.

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, such as Wilt Chamberlain.

Connie Hawkins did not play much until his junior year at Boys High.

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.

Connie Hawkins then signed a scholarship offer to play at the University of Iowa.

Connie Hawkins' name surfaced in an interview conducted with an individual who was involved in the scandal.

Connie Hawkins had borrowed $200 from Molinas for school expenses, which his brother Fred repaid before the scandal broke in 1961.

Connie Hawkins was effectively blackballed from the college ranks as no NCAA or NAIA school would offer him a scholarship.

Connie Hawkins was formally banned from the league in 1966.

Connie Hawkins played with them for only one season and one partial season before the league unceremoniously shut down on New Year's Eve in 1962.

Connie Hawkins learned how to control the basketball while barnstorming with the Globetrotters, influencing his later playing style.

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.

Also by this time, Connie Hawkins was facing financial troubles from looking after his wife's brother, who was mentally challenged, as well as his own children.

Connie Hawkins led the ABA in scoring that year and won both the ABA's regular season and playoff MVP awards.

Connie Hawkins was noted for his highly skillful passing ability, leaping ability, and his awareness of what his teammates were doing on the court.

Connie Hawkins averaged 30.2 points per game and 11.2 rebounds in the series.

The Pipers made the playoffs despite injuries to their top four players, but were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs in seven games, where Connie Hawkins averaged 24.9 points and 12.3 rebounds per game.

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.

Connie Hawkins was a Western Conference starter in the All-Star game.

Connie Hawkins was tied for fifth in MVP voting that year.

In 1997, Connie Hawkins was named to the ABA's All-Time Team.

Connie Hawkins was the first Sun inducted into the Hall of Fame.

Connie Hawkins was simply the greatest individual player I have ever seen.

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.

Connie Hawkins moved to Phoenix, Arizona, and worked in community relations for the Suns until his death from cancer on October 6,2017, at the age of 75.