Philadelphia 76ers He was then drafted 6th overall by the
Los Angeles Clippers in first round of the
1988 NBA draft, but his rights were immediately traded to the
Philadelphia 76ers for the draft rights to former 1988 Olympic teammate
Charles Smith. On the 76ers, "Hawk" was the second scoring option after
Charles Barkley. Hawkins earned NBA All-Rookie First Team Honors in 1989. In 1991, he averaged 22.1 points and appeared in the
NBA All-Star Game. In a game against the
Boston Celtics, he had 9 steals. He also scored a career-high 43 points in a game against the
Orlando Magic.
Charlotte Hornets In 1993, Hawkins was traded to the
Charlotte Hornets for
Dana Barros,
Sidney Green and draft picks. In 1994, he grabbed a career-high 14 rebounds against the
Houston Rockets. Hawkins wore #32 with the Hornets during the 1993–94 season since
Alonzo Mourning wore #33. Next season, he would change his jersey number to #3.
Seattle SuperSonics After two productive seasons in
Charlotte, Hawkins and
David Wingate were traded to the
Seattle SuperSonics for
Kendall Gill. In 1996, he played a key role, complementing
Gary Payton,
Detlef Schrempf and
Shawn Kemp on a Sonics team that made it to the
NBA Finals but lost 2–4 to his hometown team, the
Chicago Bulls. He won the NBA Sportsmanship Award in his final season in Seattle.
Chicago Bulls On August 12, 1999, Hawkins was traded along with
James Cotton to the Bulls for
Brent Barry, but his one-year tenure in Chicago was marred by injury, and he only averaged 7.9 points per game in 61 games.
Return to Charlotte He returned to Charlotte as a free agent in 2000 for his final season, and he retired in 2001 with 14,470 career points. ==Career statistics==