He holds the Hawks' record for most points in a game and is one of the few former imports to still call Wollongong home.
But Norman Taylor fears his many feats with the club he loves will be wiped out now that the Hawks have no future.
"It's devastating," the man known as "Stormin" Norman said.
"The Hawks have been part of the community for so long and it's just not right to see them fade away like this."
A highly productive centre with the Hawks from 1989-91, Taylor owns the club's top two spots for points in a single game, scoring 54 in the 1990 season and 49 in 1989.
His 29.9 scoring average in 1989 is third behind the great Michael Jones, and he still holds the club record for field goal accuracy, making 70 per cent of his shots in 1991 and 67 per cent in 1990.
Also a prolific rebounder, Taylor's 11.7 boards per game in 1989 is the club's fifth-best average of all time.
His eldest son, Jordan, is a member of the Illawarra under 18 side, while his other son, Adonis, plays for the Illawarra under 14 team.
But both his sons' dreams of eventually lining up for the Hawks are destined to go unfulfilled.
"Now that there's no Hawks and probably no other NBL team in NSW, we'll have to look at other alternatives and options for them to keep playing when they graduate from the junior level," Taylor said.
"It's just a huge shame and I really believe the league is going about it the wrong way. The NBL is stressing money, money, money when they should be focusing on trying to build the sport.
"They should set a structure for clubs to follow and promote it in the community and the schools, because that's how you boost the crowds.
"If you went into the schools now, they probably couldn't name any of the Hawks. They should have the players going to different schools almost every day and getting kids involved, because if you can't spare an hour a day there's something wrong. It should be written into the players' contracts."
Like a lot of basketball followers, Taylor wonders if the NBL will field enough teams that fit the criteria for the 2009-10 season.
"They'll be lucky to have three teams," he said.
"Instead of making clubs pay a million dollars or more, they should be bringing the costs down and not sending the clubs broke, and the clubs have to look at making tickets more affordable for everyone.
"There's no way this could just be affecting the Hawks. When you look at the Sydney teams and Cairns, and I hear Gold Coast is struggling ... I'm sure it must be four or five other clubs that won't make it.
"The NBL says they know what they're doing, but money is tight for everyone at the moment and I'm not sure they've thought everything through. It's really hard to see how the league will survive."
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