RIP Connie Hawkins

[HanSenSE]

New York playground legend turned NBA star, but not after getting caught up (erronousely, it turned out) in a betting scandal and playing with the Globetrotters and the ABA.

Connie Hawkins, NY playground legend and NBA great, dead at 75

 

[Evil ... Thy name is Orville Redenbacher!!]

Wow. Second greatest dunk artist to ever lace 'em up.

 

[cjericho]

Wow. Second greatest dunk artist to ever lace 'em up.

Who's No. 1, Dr. J, Dominique, MJ?

 

[Michael_ Gee]

Who's No. 1, Dr. J, Dominique, MJ?

The Doctor, and it's not close. Lucky enough to see Hawkins with the Suns when I was in college. He was more fluid than Erving, Wilkins or Jordan in his game rather than explosive.

 

[CD Boogie]

Who's No. 1, Dr. J, Dominique, MJ?

Dominique for my money. Human highlight reel. Didn't have the pleasure of seeing the Hawk play in person bc I was too young. RIP

 

[Stoney]

Wow. Second greatest dunk artist to ever lace 'em up.

This would've been a fairly accurate thing to say in 1975.

But it's not even remotely close to true today.

 

[hondo]

One of the sports books ever, "Foul" by David Wolf, evolved out of the magazine story that cleared his name. In addition to being one of the early acrobatic dunkers he also made assists a cool stat. Tremendous passer. Also might have been the best ever at drawing fouls when going to the rack.

 

[hondo]

This would've been an accurate thing to say in 1975.

But it's not even remotely close to true today.

In 1975 he was clearly the best.

 

[LanceyHoward]

I read the link. There were links to the obituaries of Jerry Krause and Dave Stallworth, both of whom recently died.

 

[Stoney]

In 1975 he was clearly the best.

No he was not. Dr. J was by far and away basketball's best dunker in 75. And I think David Thompson (who entered the pros that year) would be No. 2.

Frankly, dunks are hardly the first thing I associate with Hawkins. Instead, I always thought his trademark was more those sweeping finger rolls and twisting scoop shots around the rim. Beautiful shots to watch. And, as you noted, he was also a superb passer.

But he did not have extraordinary leaping ability/explosiveness compared to the standards of today's top athletes. His dunks that drew gasps in 1970 would be considered rather mundane stuff in today's game.

 

[Elliotte Friedman]

One of the sports books ever, "Foul" by David Wolf, evolved out of the magazine story that cleared his name. In addition to being one of the early acrobatic dunkers he also made assists a cool stat. Tremendous passer. Also might have been the best ever at drawing fouls when going to the rack.

That was a great book. IIRC, he talks about the "job" he had at Iowa, cleaning seaweed from a landlocked football stadium.

 

[Evil ... Thy name is Orville Redenbacher!!]

When the Dr was in there was no one better. Not now. Not ever.

Hawkins was phenomenal around the rim, like Stomey said swooping to the rim with a beautiful finger roll.

 

[georgealfano]

That was a great book. IIRC, he talks about the "job" he had at Iowa, cleaning seaweed from a landlocked football stadium.

He obviously did a great job. There has never been a report of seaweed in Iowa.

Hawkins was a legend in the 1960s who could go very high. Few people saw Dr. J during his ABA years; fewer people saw Hawkins when he was in his early- and mid 20s. His story was one of the first where a wrong done to a player was corrected.

 

[Baron Scicluna]

He obviously did a great job. There has never been a report of seaweed in Iowa.

Hawkins was a legend in the 1960s who could go very high. Few people saw Dr. J during his ABA years; fewer people saw Hawkins when he was in his early- and mid 20s. His story was one of the first where a wrong done to a player was corrected.

Oh? What about upper East Okoboji Lake?

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/st...eat-lakes-and-no-one-sure-how-stop/407212001/

 

[Songbird]

 

[swingline]

I read "Foul" in late grade school or early high school. Great book, and amazing descriptions of NY playground legend who could touch the top of the backboard. Hawkins was definitely ****ed by false accusations, and it would have been interesting to see how he could have fared with a full NBA career.

 

[georgealfano]

Oh? What about upper East Okoboji Lake?

A monster weed is invading the Iowa Great Lakes and no one is sure how to stop it

Lake weeds weren't his job. Only seaweed.

 

[Baron Scicluna]

Lake weeds weren't his job. Only seaweed.

Eh, weed is weed.

 

[Stoney]

Since I got lured into watching multiple times, I might as well post some observations:

1) Tremendous musical choice by whoever made this vid. The audio could not have possibly fit Hawkins' game/era any better.

2) How friggin big were Hawkins' hands? You'd think it was a baseball with how effortlessly he grips the ball.

3) They kinda buried the lede. Starts slow, then picks up steam. Gotta put in a couple minutes before getting to his best highlights.

4) I'm seeing a lot of similarity to James Worthy with those one handed swooping drives. From one Laker forward to another, JW was in some ways sort of a quicker/faster 2.0 update of the CH prototype.

Cool vid. Thanks for posting.

 

[Songbird]

4) I'm seeing a lot of similarity to James Worthy with those one handed swooping drives

My first thought too: Worthy before Worthy right down to the 42.

And yeah, perfect music selection.