Connie Hawkins Bitchslapped the NBA in Court

During his freshman year at Iowa, Cornelius “Connie” Hawkins was accused of point-shaving. Something that got him expelled from University and effectively banned from the NBA…until he fought back and won.

This would become known as the 1961 college basketball gambling scandal.

New York City Detectives Don’t Play

Like others that have had their name dragged through the mud like on an episode of Maury Povich and become guilty by association, this is exactly what happened in Connie’s case.

Long story short, a major gambling ring was exposed during the 1960-61 NCAA Division I season. All told, 37 arrests from 22 different colleges were made, and even Genovese crime family enforcer Vincent Gigante was implicated.

This is the point where things get spicy🌶️ as Connie Hawkins being a freshman, couldn’t have been involved due to his ineligibility to play on the varsity team.

Despite this fact being lost on overzealous NYC detectives, he was brought in for a grilling nonetheless. All because he had simply borrowed $250 from gambling ring leader Jack Molinas for school expenses while playing for Iowa’s freshman squad.

Neither Molinas nor anybody else that was questioned prior had ever implicated Hawkins and the amount he borrowed had already been paid back by his brother Fred before the scandal even broke out in 1961.

Guilty Until Proven Innocent

In a fucked up turn of events and despite never being arrested or indicted, Hawkins was assumed guilty by association and immediately expelled from Iowa and blackballed by then NBA commissioner J. Walter Kennedy (no relation to the uppity Kennedy clan).

With few avenues to pursue professional basketball, Connie toured with the Harlem Globetrotters for four years during the ’60s, entertaining fans and putting on a show.

But behind his cheery demeanor, what he really wanted was sweet revenge against the NBA for his unjust ban.

Hawkins went about this by slapping the league with an antitrust lawsuit in 1966.

Hawkins FTW!

Given the dubious nature of the allegations against Hawkins to begin with, the NBA and its butthurt owners concluded they were unlikely to successfully defend the lawsuit.

Thus, the league begrudgingly settled the lawsuit after the 1968–69 season and paid Hawkins a cool cash settlement of nearly $1.3 million (Nearly $10 million in today’s dollars) for his troubles.

Although he never got to play in the NBA in his prime due to this slander, Connie was an all-star in three of his first four seasons in the league and today is enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

He also set a precedent that man can beat corporate machine, when it gets out of line.

One more for the good guys🥂 

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