William Mervin McKinney III (born June 5, 1955) is an American former professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player, former radio broadcaster, and the current mayor of

Zion, Illinois Zion is a city in Lake County, Illinois, United States. Per the 2020 United States census, the population was 24,655. History The city was founded in 1900 by John Alexander Dowie, a Scots-Australian evangelical minister and faith healer who had ...

. Due to his quickness he was nicknamed "The Crazed Hummingbird". A 6'0"

guard Guard or guards may refer to: Professional occupations * Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault * Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street * Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning * Prison gu ...

, McKinney attended Zion-Benton High School where he played for Mo Tharp (long time Fremd coach), and

Northwestern University Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...

; 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.Minnesota Golden Gophers vs. Northwestern Wildcats - Recap - February 18, 2012 - ESPN
/ref> From 1978 to 1986 McKinney played in the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

as a member of the

Kansas City Kings The Sacramento Kings are an American professional basketball team based in Sacramento, California. The Kings compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Confere ...

Utah Jazz The Utah Jazz are an American professional basketball team based in Salt Lake City. The Jazz compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Division of the Western Conference. Since the 1991–92 season, the ...

Denver Nuggets The Denver Nuggets are an American professional basketball team based in Denver. The Nuggets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Division (NBA), Northwest Division of the Western Conference (NBA), W ...

, San Diego Clippers, and

Chicago Bulls The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago. The Bulls compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division of the Eastern Conference. The team was founded on January 16 ...

. He averaged 8.0

points per game Points per game, often abbreviated PPG, is the average number of points scored by a player or team per game played in a sport, over the course of a series of games, a whole season, or a career. It is calculated by dividing the total number of poi ...

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 The Minnesota Timberwolves (often referred to as the Wolves or T-wolves) are an American professional basketball team based in Minneapolis. The Timberwolves compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Divisio ...

, 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 The Seattle Storm are an American professional basketball team based in Seattle. The Storm compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member of the Western Conference (WNBA), Western Conference. The team was founded by Gi ...

. 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 The Milwaukee Bucks are an American professional basketball team based in Milwaukee. The Bucks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), East ...

' Director of Scouting. In 2015, he was named vice-president of Scouting. McKinney was elected as Zion's mayor in April 2019. On Saturday, March 2, 2024, McKinney's number 30 was retired by Northwestern University.

Notes

External links

Billy-McKinney.com
McKinney's official website *

at NBA.com

Election Results

Mayor McKinney's about page - City of Zion, Illinois 1955 births Living people African-American sports executives and administrators American men's basketball players American sports executives and administrators Chicago Bulls players Dallas Mavericks expansion draft picks Denver Nuggets players Kansas City Kings players Minnesota Timberwolves announcers NBA executives Northwestern University School of Education and Social Policy alumni Northwestern Wildcats men's basketball players Phoenix Suns draft picks Point guards San Diego Clippers players Sportspeople from Waukegan, Illinois Basketball players from Lake County, Illinois Utah Jazz players 21st-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century African-American sportsmen African-American mayors in Illinois Women's National Basketball Association general managers {{1950s-US-basketball-bio-stub