William Mervin McKinney III (born June 5, 1955) is a retired American 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 (appr ...

player, former radio broadcaster, and the current mayor of

Zion, Illinois Zion is a city in Lake County, Illinois, United States. Per the 2020 census, the population was 24,655. History The city was founded in July 1901 by John Alexander Dowie (1847-1907), a Scots-Australian evangelical minister and faith healer who ...

. 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 Zion-Benton Township High School, or ZBTHS, is a public high school located at the corner of Kenosha Road and 21st Street in Zion, Illinois, a northern suburb of Chicago, Illinois, in the United States. It is part of Zion-Benton Township Hi ...

where he played for Mo Tharp (long time

Fremd William Fremd High School, or Fremd (initially Palatine High School South), is a public four-year high school located in Palatine, Illinois, a northwest suburb of Chicago, Illinois, in the United States. It is part of Township High School Distric ...

coach), and

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

; he earned a degree in education. He was the Wildcats' all-time leading scorer for 35 years until

John Shurna John William Shurna (born April 30, 1990) is an American–Lithuanian professional basketball player for Herbalife Gran Canaria of the Liga ACB. He is the 2012 Big Ten scoring champion. He played in the 2012 NBA Summer League with the Atlanta H ...

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 sports league, league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues i ...

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 Western Conference Pacific Division. The Kings are the olde ...

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 league's Western Conference (NBA), Western Conference, Northwest Division (NBA), ...

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 league's Western Conference Northwest Division. The team was founded as the D ...

, 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 league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The team was founded on January ...

. He averaged 8.0

points per game Points per game, often abbreviated PPG, is the average number of points scored by a player 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 points by nu ...

and 3.5

assists per game In basketball, an assist is attributed to a player who passes the ball to a teammate in a way that leads directly to a score by field goal, meaning that they were "assisting" in the basket. An assist is also credited when a basket is awarded due ...

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 are an American professional basketball team based in Minneapolis. The Timberwolves compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Northwest Division. Founded in 19 ...

, Vice President of Basketball Operations (Detroit Pistons), and Executive Vice President of the NBA's

Seattle SuperSonics The Seattle SuperSonics (commonly known as the Seattle Sonics) were an American professional basketball team based in Seattle. The SuperSonics competed in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member club of the league's Western Confe ...

and the same position for the WNBA's

Seattle Storm The Seattle Storm are an American professional basketball team based in Seattle. The Storm competes in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The team was founded by Ginger Ackerl ...

. 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 league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The team was founded in 196 ...

' Director of Scouting. In 2015, he was named Vice-President of Scouting. McKinney was elected as Zion's mayor in April 2019.

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 basketball players African-American sports executives and administrators American men's basketball players American sports executives and administrators Basketball players from Illinois Chicago Bulls players Dallas Mavericks expansion draft picks Denver Nuggets players Kansas City Kings players Minnesota Timberwolves announcers National Basketball Association 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 Utah Jazz players 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American sportspeople African-American mayors in Illinois Women's National Basketball Association general managers {{1950s-US-basketball-bio-stub