Kevin Willis

Kevin Willis

Willis at the White House in 2003 (left behind President George W. Bush)
Personal information
Born (1962-09-06) September 6, 1962
Los Angeles, California
Nationality American
Listed height 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m)
Listed weight 245 lb (111 kg)
Career information
High school Pershing (Detroit, Michigan)
College
NBA draft 1984 / Round: 1 / Pick: 11th overall
Selected by the Atlanta Hawks
Playing career 1984–2007
Position Power forward / Center
Number 42, 41, 43, 45
Career history
1984–1994 Atlanta Hawks
1994–1996 Miami Heat
1996 Golden State Warriors
1996–1998 Houston Rockets
1998–2001 Toronto Raptors
2001 Denver Nuggets
2001–2002 Houston Rockets
2002–2004 San Antonio Spurs
2004–2005 Atlanta Hawks
2007 Dallas Mavericks
Career highlights and awards
Career NBA statistics
Points 17,523 (12.1 ppg)
Rebounds 11,901 (8.4 rpg)
Assists 1,328 (0.9 apg)
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com

Kevin Alvin Willis (born September 6, 1962) is an American retired professional basketball player mostly known for playing with the Atlanta Hawks in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was a 7-foot power forward/center.

Willis is one of fifteen players in NBA history with over 16,000 career points and 11,000 career rebounds. He was named to the NBA Eastern Conference All-Star Team in 1992, when he finished the season with a career-high average of 15.5 rebounds a game.[1] Willis holds career averages of 12.2 ppg, 8.4 rpg,[2] and 0.9 apg while averaging 27 minutes per game in 21 NBA seasons. He shares the record for most seasons played in the NBA with Robert Parish and Kevin Garnett.

During the 2004–05 season, Willis was the oldest player in the league at age 42,[3] and he would continue to be until his retirement at the conclusion of the 2006–07 season at the age of 44.[2]

Career

High School and College Career

Born in Los Angeles, Willis graduated from Pershing High School in Detroit and joined the basketball team in his junior year.[4][5] Willis played competitively at Jackson College for his freshman season and transferred to Michigan State University, where he would play three seasons[5] as a fashion and textiles major.[6]

Atlanta Hawks

He was selected in the 1984 NBA draft by the Atlanta Hawks. He played with the Hawks for nine seasons (plus two games of a tenth season) until 1994. Willis teamed with Dominique Wilkins, Spud Webb, and Doc Rivers to frequently guide the Hawks to playoff appearances as well as providing a fierce rebounding presence in the post. Near the end of his stint with the Hawks, he and Wilkins were both made team captains.

Miami Heat

Willis was traded to the Miami Heat in 1994.

Golden State Warriors

After that he played with the Golden State Warriors.

Houston Rockets

He served two separate stints with the Houston Rockets.

Denver Nuggets

He also spent two stints with the Denver Nuggets

Toronto Raptors

He also spent some time with the Toronto Raptors.

San Antionio Spurs

Now quite old, Willis joined the San Antonio Spurs. It was in 2003 with the Spurs that he finally won an NBA Championship ring.

Return to the Atlanta Hawks

Willis returned to the Hawks for one more season in 2004–05, and by doing so, positioned himself to be the oldest player in the league.

Dallas Mavericks

On March 30, 2007, The Dallas Morning News reported that Willis needed only to pass a physical to be able to sign with the Western Conference-leading Dallas Mavericks. Willis, who did not play in 2005–06, was reported to take the team's vacant 15th roster spot.[7] The deal became official when he signed a 10-day contract with the Mavericks on April 2, 2007.[2] He appeared in 5 late regular season games and was on the Mavericks playoff roster as the 12th man but did not play in the Mavericks shock early first round exit. By playing five games during 2006–07, Willis became the oldest person to play more than one game in an NBA season (Providence Steamrollers coach Nat Hickey activated himself for one game in 1948, at 45 years and 363 days old.)[8] Hall of Famer Robert Parish, who – at age 43 – played 43 games with the Chicago Bulls in 1996–97, previously held many of Willis’ longevity and age-based records.

Retirement

Willis ended his playing career after the 2007 season, returning to his clothing business, Willis & Walker.[9] The Atlanta-based company, which specializes in custom wear for big and tall men, was founded in 1988 by Willis and former Michigan State teammate Ralph Walker.[10]

Television appearances

In 2007, Willis made three appearances on the Spike TV reality show, Pros vs Joes.

NBA career statistics

† NBA Championship
Led the league
Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field goal percentage  3P%  3-point field goal percentage  FT%  Free throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high

Regular season

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1984–85 Atlanta 82 19 21.8 .467 .221 .657 6.4 .4 .4 .6 9.3
1985–86 Atlanta 82 59 28.0 .517 .000 .654 8.6 .5 .8 .5 12.3
1986–87 Atlanta 81 81 32.4 .536 .250 .709 10.5 .8 .8 .8 16.1
1987–88 Atlanta 75 55 27.9 .518 .000 .649 7.3 .4 .9 .5 11.6
1989–90 Atlanta 81 51 28.1 .519 .286 .683 8.0 .7 .8 .6 12.4
1990–91 Atlanta 80 80 29.7 .504 .400 .668 8.8 1.2 .8 .5 13.1
1991–92 Atlanta 81 80 36.6 .483 .162 .804 15.5 2.1 .9 .7 18.3
1992–93 Atlanta 80 80 36.0 .506 .241 .653 12.9 2.1 .9 .5 17.9
1993–94 Atlanta 80 80 35.8 .499 .375 .713 12.0 1.9 1.0 .5 19.1
1994–95 Atlanta 2 2 44.5 .390 .000 .667 18.0 1.5 .5 1.5 21.0
1994–95 Miami 65 61 35.4 .469 .214 .691 10.7 1.3 .9 .5 17.1
1995–96 Miami 47 42 28.9 .473 .000 .712 8.9 .7 .4 .5 10.2
1995–96 Golden State 28 18 27.8 .433 .250 .701 7.8 .7 .5 .6 11.3
1996–97 Houston 75 32 26.2 .481 .143 .693 7.5 .9 .6 .4 11.2
1997–98 Houston 81 74 31.2 .510 .143 .793 8.4 1.0 .7 .5 16.1
1998–99 Toronto 42 38 29.0 .418 .000 .839 8.3 1.6 .7 .7 12.0
1999–2000 Toronto 79 1 21.3 .415 .333 .799 6.1 .6 .5 .6 7.6
2000–01 Toronto 35 9 22.0 .461 .000 .753 6.4 .6 .5 .6 8.8
2000–01 Denver 43 13 24.6 .428 .250 .788 7.2 .7 .9 .7 9.6
2001–02 Houston 52 5 16.7 .440 .000 .747 5.8 .3 .5 .4 6.1
2002–03† San Antonio 71 6 11.8 .479 .000 .614 3.2 .3 .3 .3 4.2
2003–04 San Antonio 48 0 7.8 .467 .000 .615 2.0 .2 .4 .2 3.4
2004–05 Atlanta 29 5 11.9 .389 .000 .739 2.6 .3 .3 .2 3.0
2006–07 Dallas 5 0 8.6 .385 – 1.000 1.6 .2 .4 .2 2.4
Career 1,424 891 26.9 .487 .211 .713 8.4 .9 .7 .5 12.1
All-Star 1 0 14.0 .400 – – 4.0 .0 .0 .0 8.0

Playoffs

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1986 Atlanta 9 – 31.1 .561 – .652 7.2 .6 .8 .9 13.9
1987 Atlanta 9 – 39.6 .522 – .677 9.2 .7 1.0 .8 15.7
1988 Atlanta 12 – 38.5 .580 .000 .680 9.0 .9 .8 .8 16.2
1991 Atlanta 5 5 31.8 .403 .667 .700 9.0 1.0 .4 .2 15.4
1993 Atlanta 3 3 34.3 .467 .000 .571 8.7 1.0 .7 .0 16.7
1994 Atlanta 11 11 32.9 .457 .000 .762 10.8 1.0 .7 .5 12.2
1997 Houston 16 0 18.4 .400 .000 .684 4.7 .7 .6 .3 6.4
1998 Houston 5 5 33.6 .400 .000 .750 10.6 1.0 1.0 1.6 11.2
2000 Toronto 3 0 25.3 .364 – .750 8.7 .3 .7 .0 13.0
2003† San Antonio 18 0 5.1 .525 1.000 1.000 1.7 .1 .1 .1 2.6
2004 San Antonio 7 0 3.6 .375 .000 .000 .9 .0 .1 .0 .9
Career 98 – 24.3 .484 .214 .692 6.5 .6 .6 .4 9.9

See also

References

  1. ↑ Kevin Willis NBA Player Profile, accessed March 31, 2007.
  2. 1 2 3 Willis becomes oldest player in Mavs’ history, April 2, 2007
  3. ↑ 2004–05 NBA Player Survey Results: Age
  4. ↑ "Kevin Willis". basketball-reference. Retrieved June 20, 2011.
  5. 1 2 "Kevin Willis bio page". NBA. Retrieved June 20, 2011.
  6. ↑ Pablo S. Torre (2011-07-04). "Larger Than Real Life". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved 2015-04-19.
  7. ↑ Willis set to sign with Mavs, accessed March 31, 2007.
  8. ↑ Whatchoo Talkin' 'Bout Willis? Posted by Rob Peterson, April 3, 2007
  9. ↑ Guglielmo, Connie (2008-10-03). "Apple Wins BlackBerry Defectors With Business iPhones". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved 2008-10-04.
  10. ↑ Weissenberg, Tracy (June 25, 2013). "Ex-Hawks star Willis still flying high in world of fashion". nba.com. Retrieved July 30, 2014.
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