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 was 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 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. Willis was traded to the Miami Heat in 1994. After that he played with the Golden State Warriors, served 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 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.[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’ 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
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
- ↑ 2004–05 NBA Player Survey Results: Age
- 1 2 3 Willis becomes oldest player in Mavs’ history, April 2, 2007
- ↑ "Kevin Willis". basketball-reference. Retrieved June 20, 2011.
- 1 2 "Kevin Willis bio page". NBA. Retrieved June 20, 2011.
- ↑ Pablo S. Torre (2011-07-04). "Larger Than Real Life". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved 2015-04-19.
- ↑ Kevin Willis NBA Player Profile, accessed March 31, 2007.
- ↑ Willis set to sign with Mavs, accessed March 31, 2007.
- ↑ Whatchoo Talkin' 'Bout Willis? Posted by Rob Peterson, April 3, 2007
- ↑ Guglielmo, Connie (2008-10-03). "Apple Wins BlackBerry Defectors With Business iPhones". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved 2008-10-04.
- ↑ Weissenberg, Tracy (June 25, 2013). "Ex-Hawks star Willis still flying high in world of fashion". nba.com. Retrieved July 30, 2014.
External links
|
|---|
| | Season 1 (2006) |
- Red Team (Bill Goldberg, Matt Williams, Dennis Rodman, Jim McMahon, Jerry Rice)
- Blue Team (Muggsy Bogues, Jennie Finch, Bo Jackson, Dan O'Brien, Bill Romanowski)
- Yellow Team (Kevin Greene, Alexi Lalas, Misty May, Xavier McDaniel, Dave Stewart)
- Green Team (Morten Andersen, Clyde Drexler, Gary Hall, Jr., Rebecca Lobo, John Rocker)
- Purple Team (Brandi Chastain, Darren Daulton, Justin Gatlin, Herschel Walker, Dominique Wilkins)
- Orange "Allstar" Team (Xavier McDaniel & Clyde Drexler, John Rocker & Darren Daulton, Bill Goldberg & Kevin Greene)
|
|---|
| | Season 2 (2007) |
- Red Team (José Canseco, Randy Couture, Michael Irvin, Kevin Willis)
- Purple Team (Will Clark, Tim Hardaway, Claude Lemieux, Kordell Stewart)
- Green Team (Vince Coleman, Eric Dickerson, Roy Jones, Jr., Kevin Willis)
- Teal/Gold Team (Cobi Jones, Andre Reed, Darryl Strawberry, Spud Webb)
- Blue/Burgundy Team (Rob Dibble, Andre Rison, Robby Ginepri, Rik Smits)
- Yellow Team (Kordell Stewart, Will Clark, Grant Fuhr, Tom Chambers)
- Light Blue Team (Wade Boggs, Mark Jackson, John Starks, Dave Winfield)
- Orange "Allstar" Team (Randall Cunningham, Tim Hardaway, Kevin Willis, Bruce Smith, Roy Jones, Jr., Randy Couture)
|
|---|
| | Season 3 (2008) |
- Green Team (Jimmy Smith, Kurt Angle, Kendall Gill)
- Purple Team (Ricky Williams, Arturo Gatti, Charles Oakley)
- Light Blue Team (Kenny Anderson, Joe Carter, Raghib Ismail)
- Red Team (Jessie Armstead, Derrick Coleman, Marty McSorley)
- Dark Green Team (Warren Moon, Nick Van Exel, Al Leiter)
- Royal Blue Team (Christian Okoye, Paul Coffey, Dan Majerle)
- Yellow Team (John Randle, John Franco, Mitch Richmond)
- Gold Team (Brady Anderson, Sean Elliott, Jeff George)
- Purple "Semifinal" Team (Rod Woodson, Antonio Davis, Pernell Whitaker)
- Maroon "Finals" Team (Jamal Anderson, Allan Houston, Bob Sapp)
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| | Season 4 (2009, 2010) | |
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