RIP Connie Hawkins

[Zorro]

Dead at 75. (Man, that makes me feel old!)
"Someone said if I didn't break them (the laws of gravity), I was slow to obey them," Hawkins once told the Philadelphia Inquirer.

 

[huskymedic]

Bed-Sty legend. Remember reading Foul many many years ago. Streetball Icon.

 

[Hugo]

RIP Connie. Great player and as huskymedic said a legend in Bed-Sty and with street ballers everywhere.

 

[Chin Diesel]

You see him wearing #42 for the Lakers and you watch the highlights. Your realize he was James Worthy 20 years before James Worthy.

 

[shakes65]

Played in my era. Remember his Boys' High team facing off against Roger Brown's Wingate team at old MSG. High school ball was so big in NYC in early 60s and game drew huge numbers.
I believe he went to Indiana U for one year, got tangled up in college hoops scandal and never finished college. Played for Globetrotters for a while before going to old ABA.
Would have been a really great pro in NBA for many years, but I think scandal connection always seemed to haunt him.
May he rest in peace.

 

[huskymedic]

I believe he went to Indiana U for one year, got tangled up in college hoops scandal and never finished college.

Iowa...

 

[Zorro]

Connie Hawkins, Electrifying N.B.A. Forward Banned in His Prime, Dies at 75

 

[mauconnfan]

Bed-Sty legend. Remember reading Foul many many years ago. Streetball Icon.

Yeah I read the book at a young age and became an immediate Connie fan loved his game it was basketball beauty. George Gervin two fold did things very few players could do , the finger roll was breathtaking. Back then as a kid I would rather be able to finger roll it in like Connie rather than dunk it home. Never was able to be the great one he was and it’s a shame.

RIP Connie Hawkins

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

Wait, go back, and click on the video & the obit if you haven't already done so. This is Connie Hawkins. He, and you, deserve it.

 

[Hoophound]

Mau said it well and I can tell he feels the emotions I do watching that video. For basketball purists, that video literally makes you want to cry. The guy made finger rolls and floaters look like some sort of ballet. Just beautiful.

 

[Doctor Hoop]

The hands, man, the enormous hands and those Inspector Gadget arms that stretched to the sky.

 

[Deepster]

I know this puts my in the old guy camp, but I started watching hoops around 1976 with the Doc as my favorite and the ABA still influencing the direction of the game. I always liked the flow and smooth vibe of the play then. It'll never be anything like it with the athleticism of today but it was different from the set shot and hook shot era and was just "smooth" to watch. Hawk was on the Mt Rushmore of that.