During the 2000s there was a major boom in popularity for the flashy style of basketball that took place on playground courts across America known as ‘streetball.’ Though not very fundamentally sound, it was extremely entertaining and fans rejoiced when Rafer ‘Skip To My Lou’ Alston had a solid NBA career.
Well before that time however, Connie Hawkins revolutionized the game and was one of the first true New York streetball legends to make his mark in the ABA and NBA. Hawkins most notably starred for the Phoenix Suns, but he also spent a couple of seasons with the Los Angeles Lakers.