Bong Hawkins

Rene "Bong" Hawkins Jr. (born November 6, 1967) is a Filipino retired professional basketball player of the Philippine Basketball Association. Nicknamed as "The Hawk", he is the son of character actor Rene Hawkins, Sr. ^[1]

Bong Hawkins

Personal information
Born	(1967-11-06) November 6, 1967 (age 57) Manila, Philippines
Nationality	Filipino
Listed height	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Listed weight	215 lb (98 kg)
Career information
College	Perpetual
PBA draft	1991: 1st round, 2nd overall pick
Selected by the Presto Tivoli
Playing career	1991–2006
Position	Forward
Number	16
Career history
As player:
1991–1992	Presto Tivoli
1993	Sta. Lucia Realtors
1993–2000	Alaska Milkmen
2001	Tanduay Rhum Masters
2003–2005	Coca-Cola Tigers
2005–2006	Alaska Aces
As coach:
2009–2010	Alaska Aces (assistant)
Career highlights and awards
As player: 8× PBA champion (1995 Governors', 1996 All-Filipino, 1996 Commissioner's, 1996 Governors', 1997 Governors',1998 All-Filipino, 1998 Commissioner's, 2002 All-Filipino, 2003 Reinforced) 3x PBA All-Star (1994–1996) PBA Most Improved Player (1994) PBA All-Defensive team (1994) 2x PBA Mythical Second team (1994, 2000) 2x PBA Mythical First team (1995, 1996) PBA Finals Most Valuable Player (1996 Commissioner's) No. 16 retired by the Alaska Aces As assistant coach: PBA champion (2010 Fiesta)

PBA career

Presto & Sta.Lucia

A power forward with the good sense of timing inside the shaded area, Bong was drafted as the second overall pick in the 1991 PBA draft. The former Perpetual Help cager was chosen by Presto coach Jimmy Mariano when the Tivolis traded Manny Victorino to Pepsi. Hawkins twisted his knee during practice and was forced to sit out in the entire first conference. He finally debut in Tivoli Milk uniform in the All-Filipino Conference and asserted his might.

In 1993, he was absorbed by newcomer Sta. Lucia Realtors, which took over the disbanded Presto franchise. Bong played one conference as a Realtor before being traded to Alaska Milkmen for Paul Alvarez beginning the 1993 PBA Commissioner's Cup.^[2]

Alaska Milkmen

In his first full season with Alaska in 1994, Hawkins led his team in both scoring and rebounding as he was the hands down choice for the league's Most Improved Player award. He became an integral part of Alaska's success starting the mid-1990s, alongside Jojo Lastimosa, Johnny Abarrientos, Poch Juinio and import Sean Chambers.

In 1996, the Milkmen became the fourth team to win the PBA Grandslam and Hawkins was named to the Mythical Five for the second straight season.^[3] The 'Hawk' won nine championships with Alaska until the 2000 PBA season.

FedEx Express Controversy

He moved to Tanduay Rhum Masters in the 2001 season in exchange for a draft pick.^[4] When the ballclub disbanded at the end of the year, he was among the players absorbed by its buyer, the FedEx Express. However, he and the management had a feud. He wanted to have the same terms of salary that he had with the Masters while the Express based their contract on written ones. As a result, he was released and left unsigned in 2003.

Coca-Cola Tigers

In 2003, he was signed by the Coca-Cola Tigers where he was re-united with former teammates Jeffrey Cariaso, Johnny Abarrientos and Poch Juinio.^[5] He would go to win another championship with the then-San Miguel owned franchise and suited up for them until the early beginning of the 2004-05 PBA Philippine Cup.

Return to Alaska

Hawkins was signed as a free agent during the 2004-05 PBA Philippine Cup reuniting him with head coach Tim Cone.^[6] Jeffrey Cariaso, who was traded later to Alaska in the middle of the conference, also reunited with them.^[7] Despite showing signs of slowing down and playing with limited minutes, Hawkins still contributed his play-making skills with the young Alaska squad. He last played during the 3rd-Place game of the 2006 PBA Philippine Cup against San Miguel.

Retirement and post-basketball career

After the 2005-06 PBA season, Hawkins retired and worked for Tim Cone as one of his assistant coaches.^[8] During the 25th anniversary of Alaska on September 27, 2010, his number 16 was retired along with Johnny's number 14. He was snubbed from the PBA's 40 Greatest Players list.^[9]

Hawkins was invited to be on the coaching staff for the University of the Philippines Fighting Maroons Men's Basketball Team.^[10]

Hawkins also played in exhibition games after retiring, including one in Saudi in 2012,^[11] one against a selection of former NBA stars that same year,^[12] and one with former and current Alaska, Purefoods, and Ginebra players in 2015.^[13]

PBA career statistics

Legend
GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game
FG%	Field-goal percentage	3P%	3-point field-goal percentage	FT%	Free-throw percentage
RPG	Rebounds per game	APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game
BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game	Bold	Career high

^[14]

Year	Team	GP	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
1991	Tivoli	37	23.0	.529	.000	.802	4.8	1.2	.6	.7	12.2
1992	Presto	25	24.9	.520	.235	.720	4.8	1.9	.5	.8	12.4
1993	Sta Lucia	21	32.4	.482	.250	.667	7.5	2.8	.7	.8	15.2
	Alaska	28	35.7	.530	.000	.798	8.0	1.9	.8	.4	14.9
1994	Alaska	73	37.4	.488	.269	.772	7.8	2.5	.6	.6	16.0
1995	Alaska	73	39.9	.485	.294	.774	8.2	2.9	.9	.6	18.2
1996	Alaska	67	38.7	.455	.304	.716	8.8	3.4	1.1	.0	15.3
1997	Alaska	52	39.9	.444	.185	.793	7.9	3.8	1.0	.5	15.7
1998	Alaska	33	40.4	.428	.125	.750	8.1	4.4	1.4	.5	13.6
1999	Alaska	46	35.2	.432	.200	.686	5.8	3.7	1.0	.3	11.3
2000	Alaska	49	36.4	.445	.288	.761	6.5	3.5	1.1	.3	14.2
2001	Tanduay	26	33.6	.386	.273	.787	6.6	2.5	.9	.5	12.0
2003	Coca-Cola	15	10.1	.500	.333	.545	2.1	1.4	.5	.1	3.6
2004-05	Coca-Cola	62	18.1	.381	.273	.813	3.4	1.9	.5	.1	5.8
	Alaska
Career		607	33.5	.461	.264	.759	6.8	2.8	.8	.4	13.6

References

1. "Rene Hawkins, Sr". Archived from the original on August 26, 2016. Retrieved November 14, 2017.
2. Joble, Rey (February 22, 2022). "PBA: Alaska series of trades in the 90s proved to be a masterstroke". ABS-CBN News. Retrieved September 22, 2022.
3. "Abarrientos is PBA's '96 MVP". Manila Standard.
4. "Alaska releases Hawkins". Philstar.com. January 20, 2001. Retrieved September 22, 2022.
5. "Bong Hawkins babalik aksyon". Philstar.com. September 24, 2003. Retrieved September 22, 2022.
6. "Hawkins balik-Alaska". Philstar.com. June 24, 2004. Retrieved September 22, 2022.
7. "Cariaso balik sa piling ni Cone". Philstar.com. October 24, 2004. Retrieved September 22, 2022.
8. Bartholomew, Rafe (2010). Pacific rims : beermen ballin' in flip-flops and the Philippines' unlikely love affair with basketball. New York: New American Library. ISBN 978-0-451-22999-1. OCLC 462903288.
9. "Tim Cone 'heartbroken' after former Alaska star Bong Hawkins left out of PBA '40 Greatest' list". Spin.ph. December 4, 2014. Retrieved September 22, 2022.
10. Terrado, Reuben (May 29, 2014). "PBA great Bong Hawkins spotted coaching on bench of one team - but it's not San Mig". Spin.ph. Retrieved September 22, 2022.
11. "Marlou banners legends games in Saudi Arabia". Spin.ph. October 10, 2012. Retrieved September 22, 2022.
12. Leyba, Olmin (July 18, 2012). "Pippen, Rodman bring color, stuff of legends". Philstar.com. Retrieved September 22, 2022.
13. Villar, Joey; Beltran, Nelson. "Past and present Alaska, Purefoods, Ginebra stars play for cause". Philstar.com. Retrieved September 22, 2022.
14. "Rene Hawkins Jr Profile". Archived from the original on October 22, 2010. Retrieved September 22, 2022.

External links

• Profile at pba-online.net