"Feed the Hawk" became a favorite rallying cry of Sonics fans during Hawkins' four years in Seattle Jeff Reinking/NBAE/Getty Images

After being eliminated by the Los Angeles Lakers in the first round of the 1995 playoffs, the Seattle SuperSonics faced serious questions about their future. Stars Gary Payton and Shawn Kemp were chided as immature, the team as a whole criticized as lacking leadership, and on the court the team needed more outside shooting. Amazingly, the Sonics managed to answer all of these questions with just one player – Hersey Hawkins.

In his seven NBA seasons with the Philadelphia 76ers and Charlotte Hornets, Hawkins had been known for precisely those traits – his character and accurate marksmanship. During the 1994-95 season, Hawkins had made 48.2% of his shots overall and 44% from three-point range, both career highs. Still, the Hornets were willing to move him because they felt they needed a taller player to pair in the backcourt with 5-3 Muggsy Bogues. They were interested in re-acquiring guard Kendall Gill, who had worn out his welcome in two seasons with the Sonics after coming to Seattle in the three-way deal which had seen the Hornets get Hawkins. Swingman David Wingate was thrown in to make the salaries match, and the deal was completed on June 27, 1995.

Hawkins was very pleased with the trade as soon as he heard about it. “It’s like not being wanted, so there’s always that sense of disappointment,” he says now, “but I think every time that I was traded in my career – with the exception of the last time – I was traded to better situations, so that always helped ease the pain or the disappointment.” Any Sonics fans not initially in favor of the trade would quickly be won over. With Hawkins sitting on the perimeter and taking advantage of opponents double-teaming Payton or Kemp, the Sonics won a team-record 64 games and the Pacific Division. Hawkins was particularly important in the 19 games Detlef Schrempf missed with injuries, forcing Hawkins to step into the role of third option offensively.

Still, even with Hawkins, the Sonics faced a playoff crisis after they lost game two of their first-round series with Sacramento. Though Hawkins hadn’t been around the previous two seasons, he was still nervous. “I definitely thought that we were in trouble,” Hawkins recalls. He can laugh about it now because the Sonics came back in Sacramento, beating the Kings twice at a packed ARCO Arena to take the series. Hawkins credits George Karl for the team’s ability to stay positive, citing a motivational speech Karl delivered at practice the day after game two.

The Sonics went on to sweep the Houston Rockets in the Semifinals and defeated the Utah Jazz 4-3 in the Western Conference Finals, advancing to the NBA Finals for the first time in nearly two decades. It was, Hawkins describes, “as good as it gets”. He goes on to add, “I can remember getting goose bumps from hearing the people say in their announcements, ‘Welcome to game one of the ’96 NBA Finals’.” The fact that the Sonics were playing in Hawkins’ hometown, Chicago, and against Michael Jordan only made the experience sweeter for him. The Bulls won the series 4-2, but that didn’t keep the playoffs from being a wonderful experience. What role does Hawkins believe he played in taking the Sonics from first-round losers to NBA Finalists? “I don’t know if I played a huge role in it,” he says. “I think I definitely played a small role in it.” The answer is typically modest.

The next two seasons, the Sonics won the Pacific Division, but were eliminated in the Conference Semifinals. This, says Hawkins, is an example of how the Finals appearance actually hurt the Sonics. “When you’ve gone to the Finals and you’ve been one of the best teams, everybody guns for you,” he explains. “Good runs, good playoff series but everybody seemed to be a little more prepared for what we were doing.”

During the 1997 and 1998 playoffs, Hawkins did play an even more crucial role to the Sonics. Come playoff time, he would come alive. His first big series came against the Houston Rockets in 1997. After the Sonics dropped game one in Houston, they were able to come home even largely because of Hawkins’ 21 points. After a game three loss, Hawkins did his best to salvage game four, nailing a three-pointer in the closing seconds to tie the game at 98-all. Houston went on to prevail in overtime and take a lead in the series 3-1, but Hawkins was just getting started. He had 23 points to send the series back to Seattle, though the Rockets did eventually prevail in game seven.

A year later, Hawkins worked his magic against the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round of the playoffs. The Sonics had their backs against the walls, down 2-1, when Hawkins caught fire. A defensive switch put him on Minnesota’s young point guard, Stephon Marbury, and Hawkins shut him down. Offensively, he scored 24 points and had several key free throws down the stretch as the Sonics evened the series. Game five was more of the same. Hawkins again finished with 24 points, and his three three-pointers in the third quarter put the game and the series away.

A gentleman on and off the court, Hawkins earned the 1998-99 NBA Sportsmanship Award. NBAE/Getty Images

“I just always enjoyed being in those kinds of situations, being in pressure games,” Hawkins says. He also explains his playoff performance by noting that the strategy of opponents often played right into his strengths. “I think I was part of the scouting report, part of the game plan, but they were never concerned about me having big games against them, so the night that I did have against them, maybe I did take them by surprise.”

In the 1998-99 season, it was Hawkins and Sonics fans, not opponents, who were taken by surprise. New coach Paul Westphal, who replaced Karl, took Hawkins out of the starting lineup to open the season in favor of Billy Owens. Perhaps the person least upset with the move was Hawkins himself. “At that time, I wouldn’t say that I was disappointed,” he recalls. “The only way you can find out if things work is to try them.”

Though Hawkins returned to the starting lineup, it was clear that he was no longer the same player at age 32. His scoring average dropped, as it had every season in Seattle, to 10.3 points per game. More disturbing was his shooting accuracy, as Hawkins made just 41.9% from the field. The whole team was aging, and management decided to re-tool and get younger. Hawkins had to be sacrificed, and was dealt on Aug. 12, 1999 to the Bulls with James Cotton for Brent Barry.

Hawkins was returning to his hometown, but he was still disappointed by the deal. “I knew that I was coming to the end of my career, and I wanted to be in the position to win a championship,” he says. “I knew that, once that trade happened, it was over.”

Hawkins would go on to play two more NBA seasons. He spent one year in Chicago, starting 49 games and averaging 7.9 points per game. He and the Bulls agreed to a buyout after the season, and Hawkins was able to go to a contending team. He served as a backup for the Charlotte Hornets, scoring just 3.1 points per game in what would be his final season.

In addition to being a member of some of the best Sonics teams in history, Hawkins has two lingering legacies – his sportsmanship and his consecutive-games-started streak. Hawkins won the NBA’s Sportsmanship Award during the 1998-99 season, a fitting honor. He explains his character by saying, “I’ve always tried to conduct myself in a way that I would never embarrass the organization, never embarrass my family, and never embarrass myself.”

Following the end of his playing career, Hawkins has moved into broadcasting. He is currently in his second season doing color commentary for Memphis Grizzlies television broadcasts. “I’m enjoying still being around, still being able to see friends and travel a little, he says, “but I know that if this is something I want to do for a while, that I have to get better.” Knowing Hersey Hawkins the man and Hersey Hawkins the player, that’s sure to be the case.