When I was in High School, I read Foul, the story of Connie's struggle to play professional ball after being implicated in a point shaving scandal that he was innocent of. I was thrilled when he came to play for the Los Angeles Lakers. My Mom and I went to a Lakers vs. the Kansas City-Omaha Kings game, and sat in the very cheap seats at the very top of the Forum. At least they were center-court which gave me a good view of one of the most incredible basketball plays I have ever seen. There was a breakaway by the Lakers, and Connie had the ball all alone. He literally began his layup at center court, extending the ball with one hand way out in front of his body, a few more steps and he was airborne and the ball was dunked. This was way before Michael Jordan would make these plays commonplace, but it was Connie Hawkins that brought this playground style to the NBA first.
NYT Obit: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/07/obituaries/connie-hawkins-dead.html
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