The oversized underdog finally gets his shot in the NBA. We follow Connie's highly anticipated rookie season with the Phoenix Suns, where he faces colossal expectations despite a bad knee. We then enter the “Connie-verse,” exploring the alternate reality of what his career and legacy could have been if the NBA hadn't blackballed him. Finally, we chart the contrasting lives of Connie Hawkins and Jack Molinas, revealing what their intertwined stories say about America.

CREDITS

Created by: Bo Belanger

Written and Produced by: Bo Belanger

Theme Song: "Blame" by Gabriels

Music: Bo Belanger and Udio

VO: Shawn Hawkins, Bo Belanger and ElevenLabs

Sound Design and Mix: Dave Wagg and Collin Thomas

Art: Lincoln Lopes

Special Thanks: Shawn Hawkins, Dave Wolf, Charley Rosen and Kristen Farnam Belanger

Connie Hawkins’s six-million-dollar lawsuit comes down to a single, high-stakes deposition. New York’s white-shoe lawyers — including a young David Stern — represent the NBA, putting the screws to Connie to see if he’ll break under pressure like he did eight years earlier. Then, we switch gears to follow Jack Molinas as he faces off against Manhattan District Attorney Frank Hogan. Jack desperately tries to fix his trial just like he fixed so many basketball games, but will his luck finally run out?

CREDITS

Created by: Bo Belanger

Written and Produced by: Bo Belanger

Theme Song: "Blame" by Gabriels

Music: Bo Belanger and Udio

VO: Shawn Hawkins, Bo Belanger and ElevenLabs

Sound Design and Mix: Dave Wagg and Collin Thomas

Art: Lincoln Lopes

Special Thanks: Shawn Hawkins, Dave Wolf, Charley Rosen and Kristen Farnam Belanger

We start the episode by going back in time to 1961 to uncover what happened to Connie Hawkins during that hellish two-week NYPD investigation. We then jump forward to 1968: Journalist Dave Wolf exposes the NBA's hypocrisy, and a brilliant legal team — David and Roslyn Litman — files a massive antitrust lawsuit to clear Connie's name. But just as justice seems within reach, something happens to Connie that makes him wonder if the lawsuit will even matter.

CREDITS

Created by: Bo Belanger

Written and Produced by: Bo Belanger

Theme Song: "Blame" by Gabriels

Music: Bo Belanger and Udio

VO: Shawn Hawkins, Bo Belanger and ElevenLabs

Sound Design and Mix: Dave Wagg and Collin Thomas

Art: Lincoln Lopes

Special Thanks: Shawn Hawkins, Dave Wolf, Charley Rosen and Kristen Farnam Belanger

With the ABL collapsed and the NBA's doors slammed shut, Connie Hawkins is forced to play the fool for the Harlem Globetrotters just to feed his family. Meanwhile, with the help of David and Roslyn Litman, Connie prepares to take the NBA to court over their decision to blackball him. This all comes to a head when a new rival league forms: the ABA. Connie wants in, but will the league let him play? And if they do, can he recapture his A-game after clowning with the Globetrotters?

CREDITS

Created by: Bo Belanger

Written and Produced by: Bo Belanger

Theme Song: "Blame" by Gabriels

Music: Bo Belanger and Udio

VO: Shawn Hawkins, Bo Belanger and ElevenLabs

Sound Design and Mix: Dave Wagg and Collin Thomas

Art: Lincoln Lopes

Special Thanks: Shawn Hawkins, Dave Wolf, Charley Rosen and Kristen Farnam Belanger

Suspended from the NBA, Jack Molinas doesn't seek redemption — he seeks action. Backed by the nation's most ruthless mobsters, he engineers a massive college basketball fixing operation. His arrogance and duplicity know no bounds. The only rule in Jack's world is to win at all costs, and soon, all his bad work begins to pay off.

CREDITS

Created by: Bo Belanger

Written and Produced by: Bo Belanger

Theme Song: "Blame" by Gabriels

Music: Bo Belanger and Udio

VO: Shawn Hawkins, Bo Belanger and ElevenLabs

Sound Design and Mix: Dave Wagg and Collin Thomas

Art: Lincoln Lopes

Special Thanks: Shawn Hawkins, Dave Wolf, Charley Rosen and Kristen Farnam Belanger

Back in Brooklyn, 19-year-old Connie Hawkins is a basketball pariah. Unjustly exiled, he can't even get into a pickup game due to his tainted name. That all changes after a legendary showdown with Wilt Chamberlain at Rucker Park, putting him back on the map. When a spite-fueled rival league — the ABL — launches, Connie gets another chance. Will the new league be his salvation or just another dead end?

CREDITS

Created by: Bo Belanger

Written and Produced by: Bo Belanger

Theme Song: "Blame" by Gabriels

Music: Bo Belanger and Udio

VO: Shawn Hawkins, Bo Belanger and ElevenLabs

Sound Design and Mix: Dave Wagg and Collin Thomas

Art: Lincoln Lopes

Special Thanks: Shawn Hawkins, Dave Wolf, Charley Rosen and Kristen Farnam Belanger

Jack Molinas has it all: a brilliant mind, a hustler's instinct and a killer hook shot. Drafted fourth overall by the Fort Wayne Pistons, he's voted an NBA All-Star as a rookie. But Jack never plays in the game. His dangerous obsession catches up with him before then. Schooled by Bronx bookies and hooked on a feeling he can't shake, it turns out Jack isn't just playing the game — he's rigging it, too.

CREDITS

Created by: Bo Belanger

Written and Produced by: Bo Belanger

Theme Song: "Blame" by Gabriels

Additional Song: "Hooked on a feeling" [DH remix] by DekuHero

Music: Bo Belanger and Udio

VO: Shawn Hawkins, Bo Belanger and ElevenLabs

Sound Design and Mix: Dave Wagg and Collin Thomas

Art: Lincoln Lopes

Special Thanks: Shawn Hawkins, Dave Wolf, Charley Rosen and Kristen Farnam Belanger

Exiled back to Brooklyn, Connie Hawkins is suddenly an outcast. Everyone assumes he's guilty, his name is tainted and the University of Iowa orchestrates a cover-up that leaves him holding the bag. With his basketball future seemingly erased, Connie hits rock bottom. Just as all hope seems lost, a young writer named Jimmy Breslin arrives in Bed-Stuy to hear his side of the story.

CREDITS

Created by: Bo Belanger

Written and Produced by: Bo Belanger

Theme Song: "Blame" by Gabriels

Music: Bo Belanger and Udio

VO: Shawn Hawkins, Bo Belanger and ElevenLabs

Sound Design and Mix: Dave Wagg and Collin Thomas

Art: Lincoln Lopes

Special Thanks: Shawn Hawkins, Dave Wolf, Charley Rosen and Kristen Farnam Belanger

Before he is "The Hawk," Connie Hawkins is a scrawny, bullied kid from Brooklyn called "Long Tall Sally." By 18, he transforms into the best high school player New York has ever seen. The University of Iowa wins the recruiting lottery, paying him $300 a month to attend. But when an investigation into a college betting ringleader named Jack Molinas drags Connie back to the city, his one shot at a better life is ripped away.

CREDITS

Created by: Bo Belanger

Written and Produced by: Bo Belanger

Theme Song: "Blame" by Gabriels

Music: Bo Belanger and Udio

VO: Shawn Hawkins, Bo Belanger and ElevenLabs

Sound Design and Mix: Dave Wagg and Collin Thomas

Art: Lincoln Lopes

Special Thanks: Shawn Hawkins, Dave Wolf, Charley Rosen and Kristen Farnam Belanger