Kevin Willis

Infobox NBAretired


width=
caption=
position=Center
number=42, 41, 43, 45
height_ft= 7|height_in=0
weight_lbs=245
birthdate=birth date and age|1962|9|6
Los Angeles, California, USA
debutyear=1984
finalyear=2007
draftyear=1984
draftround=1
draftpick=11
college=Michigan State
teams=
*Atlanta Hawks (1984–94; 2004–2005)
*Miami Heat (1994–1996)
*Golden State Warriors (1996)
*Houston Rockets (1996–1998; 2001–2002)
*Toronto Raptors (1998–2001)
*Denver Nuggets (2001)
*San Antonio Spurs (2002–2004)
*Dallas Mavericks (2006–2007)
stat1label=Points
stat1value=17,253
stat2label=Rebounds
stat2value=11,901
stat3label=Assists
stat3value=1,328
letter=w
bbr=willike02
highlights=
*1x NBA All-Star (1992)
*1x All-NBA Third Team (1992)
*1x NBA Champion (2003)
HOF=

Kevin Alvin Willis (born September 6 1962 in Los Angeles, California) is an American professional basketball player who last played for the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA. He is a 7-foot power forward/center. At age 44, he was the oldest active player in the league in 2007. [http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2823277 Willis becomes oldest player in Mavs' history] , April 2, 2007] During the 2004-05 season, Willis was also the oldest player in the league at age 42. [ [http://www.nba.com/news/survey_age_2004.html 2004-05 NBA Player Survey Results: Age] ]

Willis played competitively at Jackson Community College and Michigan State University from 1980–84 and 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. [ [http://www.nba.com/playerfile/kevin_willis/index.html Kevin Willis NBA Player Profile] , accessed March 31, 2007.]

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. [ [http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/spt/basketball/mavs/stories/033107dnspomavsdate.1895ed95.html Willis set to sign with Mavs] , accessed March 31, 2007.] The deal became official when he signed a 10-day contract with the Mavericks on April 2, 2007. 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 46 years old. [ [http://www.nba.com/clickandroll/index.html Whatchoo Talkin' 'Bout Willis?] Posted by Rob Peterson, April 3, 2007] 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, and 0.9 apg while averaging 27 minutes per game in 20 NBA seasons.

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. [cite news|url=http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=ajiiBn9URvUg&?sr=hotnews |title=Apple Wins BlackBerry Defectors With Business iPhones |first=Connie |last=Guglielmo |publisher="Bloomberg.com" |date=2008-10-03 |accessdate=2008-10-04] 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. [http://www.willisandwalker.com/press.html]

Notes

External links

*NBA-profile
*basketball-reference
* [http://hoopsaddict.com/2007/04/03/hey-whatever-happened-to-kevin-willis/ Hey! Whatever Happened To Kevin Willis?]