Hawkins was born in Philadelphia to Jennifer and Hersey Hawkins, who was playing basketball professionally with the Philadelphia 76ers in the NBA. Hawkins went to high school at Estrella Foothills High in Goodyear, Arizona, where he was a member of three state title teams. He also set Arizona high school records for most points in a career and season. He averaged 36 points per game as a senior, when he was named a fourth-team Parade All-American.
College career
Hawkins began his college career with the Arizona State Sun Devils. As a freshman in 2010–11, he played in 24 games but scored only 49 points. After an unfulfilling season at Arizona State, Hawkins transferred to the University of California, Davis, whose basketball program was coached by Jim Les, a former college teammate of Hawkins' father at Bradley. Forced to sit out a year due to National Collegiate Athletic Association transfer rules, Hawkins led the Big West Conference in scoring in his first season with UC Davis in 2012–13, when he also earned first-team all-conference honors. He earned second-team All-Big West honors as a junior, when he averaged 18.0 points. In his final year in 2014–15, Hawkins led the conference in scoring again, and added 4.9 rebounds and 3.4 assists while leading the Aggies to a regular-season Big West title. He also became the first Aggie to receive All-American honors from the Associated Press, who named Hawkins to their Honorable Mention list. He played in the Reese's College All-Star Game, earning most valuable player honors after scoring a game-high 20 points. At the end of his career, Hawkins and his father had combined to score 4,687 points in college, the second most in Division I history for a father–son combo behind only Dell and Stephen Curry.
Professional career
2015–16 season
After going undrafted in the 2015 NBA draft, Hawkins joined the Philadelphia 76ers for the Utah Summer League, but got no playing time for the 76ers, and later joined the Sacramento Kings for the Las Vegas Summer League where he was sidelined with a right ankle injury. On August 21, 2015, he signed with the Miami Heat, but was waived on October 19 after appearing in two preseason games. On November 2, 2015, Hawkins was acquired by the Sioux Falls Skyforce of the NBA Development League as an affiliate player of the Heat. On November 14, he made his professional debut in a 98–95 loss to the Iowa Energy, recording three points in 13 minutes off the bench. On December 31, 2015, Hawkins was traded to the Idaho Stampede in exchange for the returning player rights of Shane Gibson. On January 4, 2016, he made his debut for the Stampede in a 103–92 win over the Bakersfield Jam, recording four assists in fourteen minutes off the bench.
