Billy McKinney (basketball)

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Billy McKinney
Billy McKinney Night.jpg
Billy McKinney speaks at his number retirement night during the Northwestern vs. Iowa men's basketball game
Personal information
Born (1955-06-05) June 5, 1955 (age 70)
Waukegan, Illinois, U.S.
Listed height6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Listed weight160 lb (73 kg)
Career information
High school Zion-Benton (Zion, Illinois)
College Northwestern (1973–1977)
NBA draft 1977: 6th round, 115th overall pick
Drafted by Phoenix Suns
Playing career1978–1985
Position Point guard
Number25, 7, 1
Career history
1978–1980 Kansas City Kings
1980 Utah Jazz
1980–1983 Denver Nuggets
1983–1984 San Diego Clippers
1985 Chicago Bulls
Career highlights
Career NBA statistics
Points 3,823 (8.0 ppg)
Rebounds 677 (1.4 rpg)
Assists 1,661 (3.5 apg)
Stats at NBA.com  OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
Stats at Basketball Reference   OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg

William Mervin McKinney III (born June 5, 1955) is an American former professional basketball player, former radio broadcaster, and the current mayor of Zion, Illinois. Due to his quickness he was nicknamed "The Crazed Hummingbird". [1]

Contents

A 6'0" guard, McKinney attended Zion-Benton High School where he played for Mo Tharp (long time Fremd coach), and Northwestern University; he earned a degree in education. He was the Wildcats' all-time leading scorer for 35 years until John Shurna surpassed him in February 2012. [2] From 1978 to 1986 McKinney played in the National Basketball Association as a member of the Kansas City Kings, Utah Jazz, Denver Nuggets, San Diego Clippers, and Chicago Bulls. He averaged 8.0 points per game and 3.5 assists per game in his NBA career.

McKinney later served as Assistant Vice President of Basketball Operations for the Bulls, Director of Player Personnel for the Minnesota Timberwolves, Vice President of Basketball Operations (Detroit Pistons), and Executive Vice President of the NBA's Seattle SuperSonics and the same position for the WNBA's Seattle Storm. In his previous position he was the radio color analyst for the NBA's Minnesota Timberwolves. In June 2008, McKinney was hired by fellow Zion-Benton alumnus John Hammond as the Milwaukee Bucks' Director of Scouting. In 2015, he was named vice-president of Scouting.

McKinney was elected as Zion's mayor in April 2019. [3]

On Saturday, March 2, 2024, McKinney's number 30 was retired by Northwestern University.

Career statistics

Legend
  GPGames 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

NBA

Source [4]

Regular season

YearTeamGPGSMPGFG%3P%FT%RPGAPGSPGBPGPPG
1978–79 Kansas City 7815.9.503.7961.13.2.7.07.8
1979–80 Kansas City 7617.5.449.100.8051.13.3.8.16.8
1980–81 Utah 35*29.5.532.500.9172.14.51.1.18.4
Denver 49*23.1.493.100.8432.24.11.2.110.7
1981–82 Denver 812724.2.528.000.8061.84.2.9.210.8
1982–83 Denver 683822.9.487.000.8141.84.2.6.19.8
1983–84 San Diego 80010.5.446.000.848.72.0.3.03.9
1985–86 Chicago 909.2.435–1.000.61.4.3.02.4
Career4766519.3.493.063.8201.43.5.7.18.0

Playoffs

YearTeamGPMPGFG%3P%FT%RPGAPGSPGBPGPPG
1979 Kansas City 519.2.375.8571.44.81.0.07.2
1980 Kansas City 311.3.400.000–1.02.7.0.01.3
1982 Denver 330.3.593.000.8332.03.31.0.014.0
1983 Denver 814.1.565–.5561.62.3.3.07.8
Career1917.6.500.500.7031.53.2.5.07.6

Electoral history

2019 Zion, Illinois mayoral election [5]
CandidateVotes %
Billy McKinney1,28163.10
Ron Molinaro74936.90
Total votes2,030 100.00
2023 Zion, Illinois mayoral election [6] [7]
CandidateVotes %
Billy McKinney (incumbent)1,01783.22
Tracey Johnson (write-in)19415.88
Shawn T. White (write-in)110.90
Total votes1,222 100.00

References

  1. ↑ "Lists". USA Today, Sports section. January 26, 1983.
  2. ↑ Minnesota Golden Gophers vs. Northwestern Wildcats - Recap - February 18, 2012 - ESPN
  3. ↑ Buckner, Candice (February 12, 2020). "He played with Michael Jordan and drafted Grant Hill. Now he's a small-town mayor on a mission". The Washington Post . Retrieved July 12, 2025.
  4. ↑ "Billy McKinnney NBA stats". Basketball Reference . Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved July 9, 2025.
  5. ↑ "2019 Chicago, Suburban Election Results for April 2". ABC 7 Chicago . April 2, 2019. Retrieved July 12, 2025.
  6. ↑ "April 4, 2023 Consolidated Election Official Results". Lake County, IL Elections. clarityelections.com. April 20, 2023. Retrieved July 12, 2025.
  7. ↑ "Unofficial Write-In Results by Candidate ID: Lake County, Consolidated - 4/4/2023". April 18, 2023. Retrieved July 12, 2025.


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