Kevin Willis

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Kevin Willis
Spurs White House.jpg
Willis at the White House in 2003 (left behind President George W. Bush)
Personal information
Born (1962-09-06) September 6, 1962 (age 62)
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 Jackson College (1980–1981)
Michigan State (1981–1984)
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 a retired American professional basketball player mostly known for playing with the Atlanta Hawks in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He is a 7-foot power forward/center. During the 2004–05 season, Willis was the oldest player in the league at age 42,[1] and he would continue to be until his retirement at the conclusion of the 2006–07 season at the age of 44.[2]

Career

Born in Los Angeles, Willis graduated from Pershing High School in Detroit and joined the basketball team in his junior year.[3][4] Willis played competitively at Jackson College for his freshman season and transferred to Michigan State University, where he would play three seasons[4] as a fashion and textiles major.[5] 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 often guide the Hawks to Playoffs 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. Willis was traded to the Miami Heat in 1994. Since then he has played with the Golden State Warriors, two separate stints with the Houston Rockets, the Denver Nuggets, the Toronto Raptors and the San Antonio Spurs. It was in 2003 with the Spurs that he finally won an NBA Championship ring. Willis is one of 15 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.[6]

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. 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's longevity and age-based records.

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.

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

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]

NBA career statistics

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

Notes

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External links

  1. ↑ 2004–05 NBA Player Survey Results: Age
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Willis becomes oldest player in Mavs' history, April 2, 2007
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Kevin Willis NBA Player Profile, accessed March 31, 2007.
  7. ↑ Willis set to sign with Mavs, accessed March 31, 2007.
  8. ↑ Whatchoo Talkin' 'Bout Willis? Posted by Rob Peterson, April 3, 2007
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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