Phx-Suns.Net

Connie Hawkins, the first great player on the Suns has passed away -

http://www.12news.com/sports/nba/suns/s ... /481492331

Hawkins was a legendary player at Boy's High and on the playgrounds of New York before going to college at Iowa, where he was named in a gambling scandal and then kicked out of school and banned from the NBA.

Hawkins then played in the rival ABL for the Pittsburgh Rens from 1961 to 1963, then joined the Harlem Globetrotters and joined the Pittsburgh Pipers of the American Basketball Association.

In 1969 Hawkins settled his lawsuit against the NBA and was signed by the Suns. After 4 years with the Suns he was traded to the Lakers and finished his career, ironically, with the Hawks in 1975-76.

Hawkins was the first Sun to have his number retired in 1976-77 and was elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1992.

Ah, I was really disappointed to read this news. I read the book Foul as a kid that chronicled his life and the scandal which I believe he had no part of.

One of the true greats who would have been a star in any era of the NBA.

Even though he had been seriously ill for sometime, this is heartbreaking news.

Hawkins helped establish the Suns in Phoenix. Even more than the beloved Dick Van Arsdale, "The Hawk" was essential to the Suns' early success as a franchise that took roots in an otherwise disinterested fan base. Without him, the Suns may have floundered around for a couple of years like the Rockets in San Diego, and moved to another city.

He had been a Globetrotter when the Harlem Globetrotters were still popular and deeply talented. Fans flocked to see the Suns play, not so much that they were a playoff team (they were in his first year) but to watch him confound opponents. It was not so much about the numbers he posted, but the magical way in which he did so.

He was a slick stylist in a league desperate for charisma. His play was the equivalent of Bach while others were playing Chopsticks.

I wasn't here to see the 1969-70 team, but that must have been exciting times. The Hawkins-Van Arsdale-Silas-Goodrich-Walk/Fox Suns must have been fun to watch!

Nobody would have guessed they would take the West-Chamberlain-Baylor Lakers to the 7th game of their playoff series, yet they did.

Red Kerr, God Bless him, didn't know how to effectively use Hawkins. So Colangelo took over and starting running the offense through the Hawk and made Stumpy a shooter. That's part of the reason they parted with Goodrich the next year, because they were running plays through The Hawk and could get a bigger shooting guard in Clem Haskins, also moving Van Arsdale to guard permanently.

The Bobster wrote:I wasn't here to see the 1969-70 team, but that must have been exciting times. The Hawkins-Van Arsdale-Silas-Goodrich-Walk/Fox Suns must have been fun to watch!

I was here but too young to remember.

Sad to hear it. Hawk was before my time, but I can appreciate the impact he had on our franchise. RIP.

I read "Foul" as a teen too.

Seems like I just saw him at the arena not long ago.

JCSunsfan wrote:I read "Foul" as a teen too.

Seems like I just saw him at the arena not long ago.

I saw him at Casino Arizona a couple of years ago when I was there to play poker.

I was a kid living in Illinois who really wasn't interested in much other than Charlie Finley's Oakland A's at the time the Hawk was playing here, but after moving to AZ when I was a little older I read FOUL. What a sad statement on how sports were run in the 1960s. And while Hawkins did finally settle with the NBA and got his opportunity to play in the league, he was robbed of his prime and we'll never know how good he would have been if he has joined the league in 1964 before all the games and travel with the Globetrotters and having knee surgery in the ABA.

JCSunsfan wrote:I read "Foul" as a teen too.

Seems like I just saw him at the arena not long ago.

I think you, me, and Bobster are all about the same age.

Superbone wrote:

JCSunsfan wrote:I read "Foul" as a teen too.

Seems like I just saw him at the arena not long ago.

I think you, me, and Bobster are all about the same age.

My God you guys are old.

The Bobster wrote:

Superbone wrote:

JCSunsfan wrote:I read "Foul" as a teen too.

Seems like I just saw him at the arena not long ago.

I think you, me, and Bobster are all about the same age.

My God you guys are old.

You're only as old as you feel. I feel great! 50s are the new 40s.

It's all just nostalgia, but I miss the days when they played at the Coliseum and the halftime shows were the guy who juggled chainsaws or women shooting free throws for canned hams.

Superbone wrote:

The Bobster wrote:

Superbone wrote:

JCSunsfan wrote:I read "Foul" as a teen too.

Seems like I just saw him at the arena not long ago.

I think you, me, and Bobster are all about the same age.

My God you guys are old.

You're only as old as you feel. I feel great! 50s are the new 40s.

I would've never guessed you were in your 50s SB, you seem younger. Props to you.

iLLmatic wrote:

Superbone wrote:

The Bobster wrote:

Superbone wrote:

JCSunsfan wrote:I read "Foul" as a teen too.

Seems like I just saw him at the arena not long ago.

I think you, me, and Bobster are all about the same age.

My God you guys are old.

You're only as old as you feel. I feel great! 50s are the new 40s.

I would've never guessed you were in your 50s SB, you seem younger. Props to you.

Must be the orange cap

iLLmatic wrote:

Superbone wrote:

The Bobster wrote:

Superbone wrote:

JCSunsfan wrote:I read "Foul" as a teen too.

Seems like I just saw him at the arena not long ago.

I think you, me, and Bobster are all about the same age.

My God you guys are old.

You're only as old as you feel. I feel great! 50s are the new 40s.

I would've never guessed you were in your 50s SB, you seem younger. Props to you.

Thanks, man!

Aztec Sunsfan wrote:

iLLmatic wrote:

Superbone wrote:

The Bobster wrote:

Superbone wrote: I think you, me, and Bobster are all about the same age.

My God you guys are old.

You're only as old as you feel. I feel great! 50s are the new 40s.

I would've never guessed you were in your 50s SB, you seem younger. Props to you.

Must be the orange cap

And maybe the guy under it as well.

https://twitter.com/Suns/status/916683609955647489