policy barring players who were even remotely involved with point-shaving scandals. As a result, when his class was eligible for the draft in 1964, no team selected him. He went undrafted in 1965 as well before being formally banned from the league in 1966. Professional career Pittsburgh Rens (1961–1963) With the major professional basketball league having blackballed him, Hawkins played one season for the Pittsburgh Rens of the American Basketball League (ABL), an aspiring rival to the NBA, and was named the league's most valuable player. Harlem Globetrotters (1963–1967) After that league folded in the middle of the 1962–63 season, Hawkins spent four years performing with the Harlem Globetrotters. During the time Hawkins was traveling with the Globetrotters, he filed a $6 million lawsuit against the NBA, claiming the league had unfairly banned him from participation and that there was no substantial evidence linking him to gambling activities. Hawkins's lawyers suggested that he participate in the new American Basketball Association (ABA) as a way to establish his talent level as adequate to participate in the NBA, as well as an immediate source of income. Pittsburgh/Minnesota Pipers (1967–1969) Hawkins joined the Pittsburgh Pipers in the inaugural 1967–68 season of the ABA, leading the team to a 54–24 regular season record and the 1968 ABA championship. Hawkins led the ABA in scoring that year and won both the ABA's regular season and playoff MVP awards. The Pipers moved to Minnesota for the 1968–69 season, and injuries limited Hawkins to 47 games. Hawkins had surgery on his knee. The Pipers made the playoffs despite injuries to their top four players, but were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs. Following the playoffs, the Pipers franchise moved back to Pittsburgh. Hawkins' lawyer, Roslyn Litman, and her husband, fellow lawyer S. David Litman, who was the brother of the Rens owner, filed an antitrust lawsuit against the NBA in 1966, arguing that the league and its owners blacklisted Hawkins. The NBA had refused to allow any team to hire Hawkins, who at the time the Litmans started working with him was still playing for the Harlem Globetrotters. In the light of several major media pieces, most notably a Life magazine article written by David Wolf, establishing the dubious nature of the evidence connecting Hawkins to gambling, the NBA concluded it was unlikely to successfully defend the lawsuit. Seeking to avoid a defeat in court