NEW CAREER FOR TOMMY HAWKINS

Tommy Hawkins, the toothsome ex-Laker who spent 15 years with KABC-AM (790) as a sportscaster before leaving in a contract dispute last winter, begins a new career today as a deejay.

Hawkins hosts a regular Saturday morning jazz program to be broadcast over KKGO-FM (105.1) from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Though he spent 10 years playing in the National Basketball Assn. and followed that career with several stints on Los Angeles television as a sportscaster and talk show host, Hawkins is probably best known to local audiences as Bud Furillo’s one-time sidekick on KABC Talkradio’s afternoon drivetime program, “Sportstalk.”

Both Hawkins and Sportstalk’s Lisa Bowman quit Sportstalk within a few months of each other because of disagreements with KABC management.

Now, during the week, Hawkins is currently co-hosting KHJ-TV Channel 9’s “Mid-Morning Los Angeles” program with Meredith MacRae.

Bowman recently began handling newscasts for morning deejay Roger Barkley on KJOI-FM (98.7).

Since the departure of Hawkins and Bowman, Furillo’s “Sportstalk” has been co-hosted by Lee Marshall. But, with the end of KABC’s Dodger baseball sportscasts, the afternoon drivetime program will be hosted exclusively by Furillo, beginning next week. Marshall will continue with KABC as a newscaster.