Dazzling basketball great Hawkins dies at 75
PHOENIX » Connie Hawkins, basketball’s dazzling New York playground great who soared and swooped his way to the Hall of Fame, has died. He was 75.
His death was announced Saturday by the Phoenix Suns, the team with which he spent his most productive NBA seasons in a career delayed for years by a point-shaving scandal that led to the league blackballing him, even though he was never directly linked to any wrongdoing.
Hawkins, who lived in the Phoenix area, had been in frail health for several years and was diagnosed with colon cancer in 2007.
“We lost a legend,” said Jerry Colangelo, the Suns general manager when Hawkins played and later the owner of the franchise, “a player I had a very deep affection for who kind of put us on the map.”
“The Hawk,”’ as he came to be known for his soaring repertoire, was born on July 17, 1942, in Brooklyn, where he could dunk by age 11 and ruled the asphalt playgrounds, tales of his basketball feats spreading across the boroughs.
“One of the first players to play above the rim,”’ Colangelo said, “and kind of set the tone for those who followed, Julius Erving in particular, in terms of charisma on the court and the ability to do things on court.”’
NASCAR: Sunday start moved up
CONCORD, N.C. » Rain has wreaked havoc with NASCAR’s opening race for the second round of the playoffs.
All practice was canceled Saturday at Charlotte Motor Speedway, and the start of Sunday’s race has already been moved up an hour to 1:10 p.m. to give NASCAR a bigger window to complete the 500-mile event.
Golf: Duncan maintains lead
NAPA, CALIF. » Playing is his first tournament as a PGA Tour member, Tyler Duncan parred the 18th hole and scrambled to a 1-under 71 to maintain a one-stroke lead in the Safeway Open.
Duncan had five birdies and four bogeys to reach 14-under 202 at Silverado Resort and Spa. He hit his tee shot in the water on the par-3 15th hole en route to a bogey. ST. ANDREWS, SCOTLAND » Defending champion Tyrrell Hatton opened up a fiveshot lead with a 65 heading into the final round of the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship.
Tennis: Halep secures top ranking
Simona Halep will take over the top ranking after reaching the China Open final, and Rafael Nadal will play Nick Kyrgios for the men’s title.
Halep beat French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko 6-2, 6-4, ensuring that when the WTA rankings are updated on Monday she will be the first women’s No. 1 from Romania.
Top-seeded Nadal defeated third-seeded Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria 6-3, 4-6, 6-1 in the semifinals, his tour-leading 60th match win. Dimitrov’s only victory against the Spaniard in 10 matches came last year in the China Open quarterfinals.