Tommy Hawkins was already a legend when he moved to Malibu more than 30 years ago—he’d been a pro basketball player for the Lakers, a radio and television broadcaster in Los Angeles, and an executive with the Los Angeles Dodgers baseball team. But he also became a legend among the many friends he made in Malibu.
“His friendship and wisdom will never be forgotten,” said retired firefighter Dave Salhus, who knew Hawkins for 20 years. “He had an amazing ability to connect with people on a very personal level.”
Hawkins earned awards throughout his life including entry into the Southern California Sports Broadcasters Hall of Fame and into Notre Dame’s Basketball Ring of Honor, but those in Malibu remember him as a down-to-earth friend.
Salhus recalled first meeting Hawkins at the local Dietrich’s coffee shop, which is now a Starbucks in the Malibu Colony Plaza, where he and other locals would meet up for coffee. Hawkins coined the phrase “Malibu Brats” for the coffee group and even had little coin purses made up for each member.
“He was like a father to me when I was going through a rough time, and he made a difference in my life. It was like he knew exactly what you were going through and would say the exact words you needed to hear,” Salhus said. “He’d meet everybody at every level. I never knew him as a pro athlete or announcer, but he would share his experiences in life.”
Salhus recalled that Hawkins spoke at his retirement party, and that Hawkins also spoke at the opening of a restaurant owned by local Jack Davis. “He’d show up and be present and knew what to say in any situation,” Salhus recalled. “He was just one of those constant good guys who was great to have around through good times and bad times. “
The six-foot-five Hawkins first came to prominence in the ‘50s as the star of the University of Notre Dame’s basketball team, where he was two-time All-American and still holds the school record for rebounds. He also broke racial barriers by being the school’s first African-American player to win All-American. After graduating in 1959, Hawkins was selected by the Minneapolis Lakers (who later moved to Los Angeles) in the first round of the NBA draft, and played in the league for 10 years, for the Lakers and the Cincinnati Royals.
“I left the game before it left me,” he told The Malibu Times previously.
Following his basketball career, Hawkins became an Emmy-nominated radio and television personality in the LA area, including stints with KABC-TV, KNBC-TV and KABC radio. He was inducted into the Southern California Sports Broadcasters Hall of Fame last year. He then spent nearly two decades with the Dodgers as vice president of communications and external affairs, going into semi-retirement in 2004.
Over the past 13 years, at an age when many people decide to take it easy, he put his many talents to work by running a speakers bureau, serving as a a board member for various nonprofit organizations, hosting a weekly radio program for K-JAZZ out of Cal State Long Beach, publishing his first book of poetry, being a contributing writer to the Malibu Chronicle, being inducted into Notre Dame’s Basketball Ring of Honor, continuing as master of ceremonies for the John R. Wooden Award and teaching “Mass Media and the History of the Black Athlete” at Long Beach State. In addition, he developed a partnership with Pepperdine University known as “Riding the Waves,” hosting quarterly town hall forums that brought professors and professionals together.
Hawkins lived in a home up Las Flores Canyon Road with his second wife, Layla, and youngest daughter, Neda. He is also survived by his first wife, Dori, and their children, Kevin, Karel, Traci and David; seven grandchildren and a great-grandchild.
He had been in good health and died in his sleep while taking a nap at his Malibu home, his oldest son, Kevin, told the Associated Press.
A message posted by the family on the John R. Wooden Award website said: “We are planning two celebrations of his well-lived life: One to be held in Los Angeles and one in South Bend, Ind. We will make an announcement of dates, times and locations in the next few weeks.”
